A  thick  blackness  had  gathered  over  the  ocean. 

(See  page  20.) 


A    EMORY  OF 
THE  EMPIRE 


A    CO/VAN      DOYLE 


AUTHOR  OF  RODNEY  STONE 
THE  STARK.  MUNRO.  LETTERS 
THE'EXPLOITS  OF.  BRIGADIER  GERARD 
ROUND  THE  RED  LAMP;  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW 
.  APPLiTON  AND  COMPANY 

MCMVII 


COPYRIGHT,  1806,  1897, 
BY  A.  CONAN  DOYLK. 


All  fights  r€it>-ved. 


.  f 


NOTE. 

THIS  novel  has  been  rewritten  and  length- 
ened by  one  third  since  its  appearance  in  serial 
form. 

A.  CONAN  DOYLE. 

April  23,  1897. 


248425 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER.  »AG« 

I.— THE  COAST  OF  FRANCE i 

II. — THE   SALT-MARSH 22 

III.— THE  RUINED  COTTAGE 3& 

IV. — MEN   OF   THE  NIGHT 48 

V. — THE  LAW 65 

VI.— THE  SECRET  PASSAGE 8 1 

VII. — THE  OWNER  OF  GROSBOIS 97 

VIII.— COUSIN   SlBYLLE HO 

IX.— THE  CAMP  OF  BOULOGNE 127 

X. — THE  ANTE-ROOM J44 

XL— THE  SECRETARY l64 

XII.— THE  MAN   OF  ACTION *77 

XIII.— THE  MAN  OF   DREAMS 2OQ 

XIV.— JOSEPHINE 228 

XV.— THE  RECEPTION   OF  THE  EMPRESS         .          .          .          .245 

XVI.— THE  LIBRARY  OF  GROSBOIS 273 

XVII.— THE  END 296 

vii 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FACING 
PAGE 


A  thick  blackness  had  gathered  over  the  ocean     Frontispiece 
Pulling  with  long,  slow  strokes  toward  the  low-lying  shore  .       II 

Me  looked  earnestly  out  of  the  window 42 

It  was  clear  who  was  to  be  executioner          .        .        .        .51 

I  saw  that  she  was  tall  and  slender 99 

She  gripped  me  by  the  wrist  in  her  anxiety  .  .  .  .  117 
I  sprang  readily  enough  into  the  saddle  .  .  .  .127 
"  Those  fellows  are  the  Cuirassiers,"  said  he  .  .  .  .141 
He  put  out  his  hand  and  pinched  one  of  my  ears  .  .  162 
A  tall,  handsome  man  came  across  and  greeted  us  .  .  168 
With  a  face  which  showed  that  all  hope  had  not  been  aban- 
doned   207 

We  rushed  in,  weapons  in  hand 284 

iz 


UNCLE  BERNAC: 

A   M 'EMORY  OF   THE  EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  COAST  OF  FRANCE. 

I  DARESAY  that  I  had  already  read  my  uncle's 
letter  a  hundred  times,  and  I  am  sure  that  I  knew 
it  by  heart.  None  the  less  I  took  it  out  of  my 
pocket,  and,  sitting  on  the  side  of  the  lugger,  I 
went  over  it  again  with  as  much  attention  as  if 
it  were  for  the  first  time.  It  was  written  in  a  prim, 
angular  hand,  such  as  one  might  expect  from  a 
man  who  had  begun  life  as  a  village  attorney,  and 
it  was  addressed  to  Louis  de  Laval,  to  the  care 
of  William  Hargreaves,  of  the  Green  Man  in  Ash- 
ford,  Kent.  The  landlord  had  many  a  hogshead 
of  untaxed  French  brandy  from  the  Normandy 
coast,  and  the  letter  had  found  its  way  by  the  same 
hands. 


2  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"  My  dear  nephew  Louis,"  said  the  letter, 
"  now  that  your  father  is  dead,  and  that  you  are 
alone  in  the  world,  I  am  sure  that  you  will  not 
wish  to  carry  on  the  feud  which  has  existed  be- 
tween the  two  halves  of  the  family.  At  the  time 
of  the  troubles  your  father  was  drawn  towards 
the  side  of  the  King,  and  I  towards  that  of  the 
people,  and  it  ended,  as  you  know,  by  his  hav- 
ing to  fly  from  the  country,  and  by  my  becoming 
the  possessor  of  the  estates  of  Grosbois.  No 
doubt  it  is  very  hard  that  you  should  find  yourself 
in  a  different  position  to  your  ancestors,  but  I 
am  sure  that  you  would  rather  that  the  land  should 
be  held  by  a  Bernac  than  by  a  stranger.  From  the 
brother  of  your  mother  you  will  at  least  always 
meet  with  sympathy  and  consideration. 

"  And  now  I  have  some  advice  for  you.  You 
know  that  I  have  always  been  a  Republican,  but 
it  has  become  evident  to  me  that  there  is  no  use 
in  fighting  against  fate,  and  that  Napoleon's 
power  is  far  too  great  to  be  shaken.  This  being 
so,  I  have  tried  to  serve  him,  for  it  is  well  to  howl 
when  you  are  among  wolves.  I  have  been  able 
to  do  so  much  for  him  that  he  has  become  my  very 


THE  COAST  OF   FRANCE.  3 

good  friend,  so  that  I  may  ask  him  what  I  like 
in  return.  He  is  now,  as  you  are  probably  aware, 
with  the  army  at  Boulogne,  within  a  few  miles  of 
Grosbois.  If  you  will  come  over  at  once  he  will 
certainly  forget  the  hostility  of  your  father  in  con- 
sideration of  the  services  of  your  uncle.  It  is 
true  that  your  name  is  still  proscribed,  but  my 
influence  with  the  Emperor  will  set  that  matter 
right.  Come  to  me,  then,  come  at  once,  and  come 
with  confidence. 

"  Your  uncle,  C.  BERNAC. 

So  much  for  the  letter,  but  it  was  the  outside 
which  had  puzzled  me  most.  A  seal  of  red  wax 
had  been  affixed  at  either  end,  and  my  uncle  had 
apparently  used  his  thumb  as  a  signet.  One  could 
see  the  little  rippling  edges  of  a  coarse  skin  im- 
printed upon  the  wax.  And  then  above  one  of 
the  seals  there  was  written  in  English  the  two 
words,  "  Don't  come."  It  was  hastily  scrawled, 
and  whether  by  a  man  or  a  woman  it  was  impos- 
sible to  say,  but  there  it  stared  me  in  the  face, 
that  sinister  addition  to  an  invitation. 

"Don't  come!"     Had  it  been  added  by  this 


4  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

unknown  uncle  of  mine  on  account  of  some  sud- 
den change  in  his  plans?  Surely  that  was  incon- 
ceivable, for  why  in  that  case  should  he  send  the 
invitation  at  all?  Or  was  it  placed  there  by  some- 
one else  who  wished  to  warn  me  from  accepting 
this  offer  of  hospitality?  The  letter  was  in  French. 
The  warning  was  in  English.  Could  it  have  been 
added  in  England?  But  the  seals  were  unbroken, 
and  how  could  anyone  in  England  know  what  were 
the  contents  of  the  letter? 

And  then,  as  I  sat  there  with  the  big  sail  hum- 
ming like  a  shell  above  my  head  and  the  green 
water  hissing  beside  me,  I  thought  over  all  that 
I  had  heard  of  this  uncle  of  mine.  My  father, 
the  descendant  of  one  of  the  proudest  and  oldest 
families  in  France,  had  chosen  beauty  and  virtue 
rather  than  rank  in  his  wife.  Never  for  an  hour 
had  she  given  him  cause  to  regret  it;  but  this 
lawyer  brother  of  hers  had,  as  I  understood,  offend- 
ed my  father  by  his  slavish  obsequiousness  in  days 
of  prosperity  and  his  venomous  enmity  in  the 
days  of  trouble.  He  had  hounded  on  the  peasants 
until  my  family  had  been  compelled  to  fly  from  the 
country  and  had  afterwards  aided  Robespierre  in 


THE   COAST  OF   FRANCE.  5 

his  worst  excesses,  receiving  as  a  reward  the  castle 
and  estate  of  Grosbois,  which  was  our  own.  At 
the  fall  of  Robespierre  he  had  succeeded  in  con- 
ciliating Barras,  and  through  every  successive 
change  he  still  managed  to  gain  a  fresh  tenure  of 
the  property.  Now  it  appeared  from  his  letter 
that  the  new  Emperor  of  France  had  also  taken 
his  part,  though  why  he  should  befriend  a  man 
with  such  a  history,  and  what  service  my  Republi- 
can uncle  could  possibly  render  to  him,  were  mat- 
ters upon  which  I  could  form  no  opinion. 

And  now  you  will  ask  me,  no  doubt,  why  I 
should  accept  the  invitation  of  such  a  man — a 
man  whom  my  father  had  always  stigmatised  as  a 
usurper  and  a  traitor.  It  is  easier  to  speak  of  it 
now  than  then,  but  the  fact  was  that  we,  of  the 
new  generation,  felt  it  very  irksome  and  difficult 
to  carry  on  the  bitter  quarrels  of  the  last.  To 
the  older  emigres  the  clock  of  time  seemed  to 
have  stopped  in  the  year  1792,  and  they  remained 
for  ever  with  the  loves  and  the  hatreds  of  that 
era  fixed  indelibly  upon  their  souls.  They  had 
been  burned  into  them  by  the  fiery  furnace 
through  which  they  had  passed.  But  we,  who 


6  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

had  grown  up  upon  a  strange  soil,  understood  that 
the  world  had  moved,  and  that  new  issues  had 
arisen.  We  were  inclined  to  forget  these  feuds 
of  the  last  generation.  France  to  us  was  no  longer 
the  murderous  land  of  the  sans-culotte  and  the 
guillotine  basket ;  it  was  rather  the  glorious  queen 
of  war,  attacked  by  all  and  conquering  all,  but  still 
so  hard  pressed  that  her  scattered  sons  could  hear 
her  call  to  arms  for  ever  sounding  in  their  ears. 
It  was  that  call  more  than  my  uncle's  letter  which 
was  taking  me  over  the  waters  of  the  Channel. 

For  long  my  heart  had  been  with  my  country 
in  her  struggle,  and  yet  while  my  father  lived  I 
had  never  dared  to  say  so,  for  to  him  who  had 
served  under  Conde  and  fought  at  Quiberon  it 
would  have  seemed  the  blackest  treason.  But 
after  his  death  there  was  no  reason  why  I  should 
not  return  to  the  land  of  my  birth,  and  my  desire 
was  the  stronger  because  Eugenie — the  same  Eu- 
genie who  has  been  thirty  years  my  wife — was 
of  the  same  way  of  thinking  as  myself.  Her  par- 
ents were  a  branch  of  the  de  Choiseuls,  and  their 
prejudices  \vere  even  stronger  than  those  of  my 
father.  Little  did  they  think  what  was  passing 


THE  COAST  OF   FRANCE. 


7 


in  the  minds  of  their  children.  Many  a  time  when 
they  were  mourning  a  French  victory  in  the  par- 
lour we  were  both  capering  with  joy  in  the  garden. 
There  was  a  little  window,  all  choked  round  with 
laurel  bushes,  in  the  corner  of  the  bare  brick  house, 
and  there  we  used  to  meet  at  night,  the  dearer  to 
each  other  from  our  difference  with  all  who  sur- 
rounded us.  I  would  tell  her  my  ambitions;  she 
would  strengthen  them  by  her  enthusiasm.  And 
so  all  was  ready  when  the  time  came. 

But  there  was  another  reason  besides  the  death 
of  my  father  and  the  receipt  of  this  letter  from 
my  uncle.  Ashford  was  becoming  too  hot  to 
hold  me.  I  will  say  this  for  the  English,  that 
they  were  very  generous  hosts  to  the  French  emi- 
grants. There  was  not  one  of  us  who  did  not 
carry  away  a  kindly  remembrance  of  the  land  and 
its  people.  But  in  every  country  there  are  over- 
bearing, swaggering  folk,  and  even  in  quiet,  sleepy 
Ashford  we  were  plagued  by  them.  There  was 
one  young  Kentish  squire,  Farley  was  his  name, 
who  had  earned  a  reputation  in  the  town  as  a 
bully  and  a  roisterer.  He  could  not  meet  one  of 
us  without  uttering  insults  not  merely  against  the 

2 


8  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

present  French  Government,  which  might  have 
been  excusable  in  an  English  patriot,  but  against 
France  itself  and  all  Frenchmen.  Often  we  were 
forced  to  be  deaf  in  his  presence,  but  at  last  his 
conduct  became  so  intolerable  that  I  determined 
to  teach  him  a  lesson.  There  were  several  of  us 
in  the  coffee-room  at  the  Green  Man  one  even- 
ing, and  he,  full  of  wine  and  malice,  was  heaping 
insults  upon  the  French,  his  eyes  creeping  round 
to  me  every  moment  to  see  how  I  was  taking 
it.  "  Now,  Monsieur  de  Laval,"  he  cried,  putting 
his  rude  hand  upon  my  shoulder,  "  here  is  a  toast 
for  you  to  drink.  This  is  to  the  arm  of  Nelson 
which  strikes  down  the  French."  He  stood  leer- 
ing at  me  to  see  if  I  would  drink  it.  "  Well,  sir," 
said  I,  "  I  will  drink  your  toast  if  you  will  drink 
mine  in  return."  "  Come  on,  then!  "  said  he.  So 
we  drank.  "  Now,  monsieur,  let  us  have  your 
toast,"  said  he.  "  Fill  your  glass,  then,"  said  I. 
"It  is  full  now."  "Well,  then  here's  to  the  ball 
which  carried  off  that  arm! "  In  an  instant  I  had 
a  glass  of  port  wine  running  down  my  face,  and 
within  an  hour  a  meeting  had  been  arranged.  I 
shot  him  through  the  shoulder,  and  that  night, 


THE   COAST   OF   FRANCE.  9 

when  I  came  to  the  little  window,  Eugenie  plucked 
off  some  of  the  laurel  leaves  and  stuck  them  in 
my  hair. 

There  were  no  legal  proceedings  about  the 
duel,  but  it  made  my  position  a  little  difficult  in 
the  town,  and  it  will  explain,  with  other  things, 
why  I  had  no  hesitation  in  accepting  my  unknown 
uncle's  invitation,  in  spite  of  the  singular  addi- 
tion which  I  found  upon  the  cover.  If  he  had  in- 
deed sufficient  influence  with  the  Emperor  to  re- 
move the  proscription  which  was  attached  to  our 
name,  then  the  only  barrier  which  shut  me  off 
from  my  country  would  be  demolished. 

You  must  picture  me  all  this  time  as  sitting 
upon  the  side  of  the  lugger  and  turning  my  pros- 
pects and  my  position  over  in  my  head.  My 
reverie  was  interrupted  by  the  heavy  hand  of 
the  English  skipper  dropping  abruptly  upon  my 
arm. 

"  Now  then,  master,"  said  he,  "  it's  time  you 
were  stepping  into  the  dingey." 

I  do  not  inherit  the  politics  of  the  aristocrats, 
but  I  have  never  lost  their  sense  of  personal  dig- 
nity. I  gently  pushed  away  his  polluting  hand, 


IO  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

and  I  remarked  that  we  were  still  a  long  way 
from  the  shore. 

"  Well,  you  can  do  as  you  please,"  said  he 
roughly;  "  I'm  going  no  nearer,  so  you  can  take 
your  choice  of  getting  into  the  dingey  or  of  swim- 
ming for  it." 

It  was  in  vain  that  I  pleaded  that  he  had  been 
paid  his  price.  I  did  not  add  that  that  price  meant 
that  the  watch  which  had  belonged  to  three  gen- 
erations of  de  Lavals  was  now  lying  in  the  shop  of 
a  Dover  goldsmith. 

"  Little  enough,  too! "  he  cried  harshly. 
"  Down  sail,  Jim,  and  bring  her  to!  Now,  mas- 
ter, you  can  step  over  the  side,  or  you  can  come 
back  to  Dover,  but  I  don't  take  the  Vixen  a  cable's 
length  nearer  to  Ambleteuse  Reef  with  this  gale 
coming  up  from  the  sou'-west." 

"  In  that  case,  I  shall  go,"  said  I. 

"  You  can  lay  your  life  on  that !  "  he  answered, 
and  laughed  in  so  irritating  a  fashion  that  I  half 
turned  upon  him  with  the  intention  of  chastising 
him.  One  is  very  helpless  with  these  fellows, 
however,  for  a  serious  affair  is  of  course  out  of  the 
question,  while  if  one  uses  a  cane  upon  them  they 


THE  COAST  OF  FRANCE.  II 

have  a  vile  habit  of  striking  with  their  hands, 
which  gives  them  an  advantage.  The  Marquis 
de  Chamfort  told  me  that,  when  he  first  settled 
in  Sutton  at  the  time  of  the  emigration,  he  lost 
a  tooth  when  reproving  an  unruly  peasant.  I 
made  the  best  of  a  necessity,  therefore,  and,  shrug- 
ging my  shoulders,  I  passed  over  the  side  of  the 
lugger  into  the  little  boat.  My  bundle  was 
dropped  in  after  me — conceive  to  yourself  the  heir 
of  all  the  de  Lavals  travelling  with  a  single  bundle 
for  his  baggage — and  two  seamen  pushed  her  off, 
pulling  with  long  slow  strokes  towards  the  low- 
lying  shore. 

There  was  certainly  every  promise  of  a  wild 
night,  for  the  dark  cloud  which  had  rolled  up 
over  the  setting  sun  was  now  frayed  and  ragged 
at  the  edges,  extending  a  good  third  of  the  way 
across  the  heavens.  It  had  split  low  down  near 
the  horizon,  and  the  crimson  glare  of  the  sunset 
beat  through  the  gap,  so  that  there  was  the  ap- 
pearance of  fire  with  a  monstrous  reek  of  smoke. 
A  red  dancing  belt  of  light  lay  across  the  broad 
slate-coloured  ocean,  and  in  the  centre  of  it  the 
little  black  craft  was  wallowing  and  tumbling. 


12  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

The  two  seamen  kept  looking  up  at  the  heavens, 
and  then  over  their  shoulders  at  the  land,  and  I 
feared  every  moment  that  they  would  put  back 
before  the  gale  burst.  I  was  filled  with  appre- 
hension every  time  when  the  end  of  their  pull 
turned  their  faces  skyward,  and  it  was  to  draw 
their  attention  away  from  the  storm-drift  that  I 
asked  them  what  the  lights  were  which  had  begun 
to  twinkle  through  the  dusk  both  to  the  right  and 
to  the  left  of  us. 

"  That's  Boulogne  to  the  north,  and  Etaples 
upon  the  south,"  said  one  of  the  seamen  civilly. 

Boulogne!  Etaples!  How  the  words  came 
back  to  me.  It  was  to  Boulogne  that  in  my  boy- 
hood we  had  gone  down  for  the  summer  bath- 
ing. Could  I  not  remember  as  a  little  lad  trot- 
ting along  by  my  father's  side  as  he  paced  the 
beach,  and  wondering  why  every  fisherman's  cap 
flew  off  at  our  approach.  And  as  to  Etaples,  it 
was  thence  that  we  had  fled  for  England,  when 
the  folks  came  raving  to  the  pier-head  as  we 
passed,  and  I  joined  my  thin  voice  to  my  father's 
as  he  shrieked  back  at  them,  for  a  stone  had 
broken  my  mother's  knee,  and  we  were  all  fren- 


THE  COAST  OF   FRANCE.  ^ 

zied  with  our  fear  and  our  hatred.  And  here  they 
were,  these  places  of  my  childhood,  twinkling 
to  the  north  and  south  of  me,  while  there,  in  the 
darkness  between  them,  and  only  ten  miles  off 
at  the  furthest,  lay  my  own  castle,  my  own  land 
of  Grosbois,  where  the  men  of  my  blood  had  lived 
and  died  long  before  some  of  us  had  gone  across 
with  Duke  William  to  conquer  the  proud  island 
over  the  water.  How  I  strained  my  eager  eyes 
through  the  darkness  as  I  thought  that  the  dis- 
tant black  keep  of  our  fortalice  might  even  now 
be  visible! 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  the  seaman,  "  'tis  a  fine  stretch 
of  lonesome  coast,  and  many  is  the  cock  of  your 
hackle  that  I  have  helped  ashore  there." 

"  What  do  you  take  me  for,  then?  "  I  asked. 

"  Well,  'tis  no  business  of  mine,  sir,"  he  an- 
swered. "  There  are  some  trades  that  had  best 
not  even  be  spoken  about." 

"  You  think  that  I  am  a  conspirator? " 

"  Well,  master,  since  you  have  put  a  name  to 
it.  Lor'  love  you,  sir,  we're  used  to  it." 

"  I  give  you  my  word  that  I  am  none." 

"  An  escaped  prisoner,  then?  " 


14  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

"  No,  nor  that  either/' 

The  man  leaned  upon  his  oar,  and  I  could  see 
in  the  gloom  that  his  face  was  thrust  forward, 
and  that  it  was  wrinkled  with  suspicion. 

"  If  you're  one  of  Boney's  spies "  he 

cried. 

"I!  A  spy!"  The  tone  of  my  voice  was 
enough  to  convince  him. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  I'm  darned  if  I  know  what 
you  are.  But  if  you'd  been  a  spy  I'd  ha'  had  no 
hand  in  landing  you,  whatever  the  skipper  might 
say." 

"  Mind  you,  I've  no  word  to  say  against 
Boney,"  said  the  other  seaman,  speaking  in  a  very 
thick  rumbling  voice.  "  He's  been  a  rare  good 
friend  to  the  poor  mariner." 

It  surprised  me  to  hear  him  speak  so,  for  the 
virulence  of  feeling  against  the  new  French  Em- 
peror in  England  exceeded  all  belief,  and  high  and 
low  were  united  in  their  hatred  of  him;  but  the 
sailor  soon  gave  me  a  clue  to  his  politics. 

"  If  the  poor  mariner  can  run  in  his  little  bit 
of  coffee  and  sugar,  and  run  out  his  silk  and  his 
brandy,  he  has  Boney  to  thank  for  it,"  said  he. 


THE   COAST   OF   FRANCE.  ^ 

"  The  merchants  have  had  their  spell,  and  now 
it's  the  turn  of  the  poor  mariner." 

I  remembered  then  that  Buonaparte  was  per- 
sonally very  popular  amongst  the  smugglers,  as 
well  he  might  be,  seeing  that  he  had  made  over 
into  their  hands  all  the  trade  of  the  Channel.  The 
seaman  continued  to  pull  with  his  left  hand,  but 
he  pointed  with  his  right  over  the  slate-coloured 
dancing  waters. 

"  There's  Boney  himself,"  said  he. 

You  who  live  in  a  quieter  age  cannot  conceive 
the  thrill  which  these  simple  words  sent  through 
me.  It  was  but  ten  years  since  we  had  first  heard 
of  this  man  with  the  curious  Italian  name — think 
of  it,  ten  years,  the  time  that  it  takes  for  a  private 
to  become  a  non-commissioned  officer,  or  a  clerk 
to  win  a  fifty  pound  advance  in  his  salary.  He  had 
sprung  in  an  instant  out  of  nothing  into  every- 
thing. One  month  people  were  asking  who  he 
was,  the  next  he  had  broken  out  in  the  north  of 
Italy  like  the  plague;  Venice  and  Genoa  withered 
at  the  touch  of  this  swarthy  ill-nourished  boy. 
He  cowed  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  and  he  out- 
witted the  statesmen  in  the  council  chamber. 


l6  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

With  a  frenzy  of  energy  he  rushed  to  the  east, 
and  then,  while  men  were  still  marvelling  at  the 
way  in  which  he  had  converted  Egypt  into  a 
French  department,  he  was  back  again  in  Italy 
and  had  beaten  Austria  for  the  second  time  to  the 
earth.  He  travelled  as  quickly  as  the  rumour  of 
his  coming;  and  where  he  came  there  were  new 
victories,  new  combinations,  the  crackling  of  old 
systems  and  the  blurring  of  ancient  lines  of  fron- 
tier. Holland,  Savoy,  Switzerland — they  were 
become  mere  names  upon  the  map.  France  was 
eating  into  Europe  in  every  direction.  They  had 
made  him  Emperor,  this  beardless  artillery  officer, 
and  without  an  effort  he  had  crushed,  down  those 
Republicans,  before  whom  the  oldest  king  and  the 
proudest  nobility  of  Europe  had  been  helpless. 
So  it  came  about  that  we,  who  watched  him  dart 
from  place  to  place  like  the  shuttle  of  destiny, 
and  who  heard  his  name  always  in  connection  with 
some  new  achievement  and  some  new  success,  had 
come  at  last  to  look  upon  him  as  something  more 
than  human,  something  monstrous,  overshadow- 
ing France  and  menacing  Europe.  His  giant 
presence  loomed  over  the  continent,  and  so  deep 


THE  COAST  OF   FRANCE.  ij 

was  the  impression  which  his  fame  had  made  in 
my  mind  that,  when  the  English  sailor  pointed 
confidently  over  the  darkening  waters,  and  cried 
"There's  Boney!"  I  looked  up  for  the  instant 
with  a  foolish  expectation  of  seeing  some  gigantic 
figure,  some  elemental  creature,  dark,  inchoate, 
and  threatening,  brooding  over  the  waters  of  the 
Channel.  Even  now,  after  the  long  gap  of  years 
and  the  knowledge  of  his  downfall,  that  great 
man  casts  his  spell  upon  you,  but  all  that  you  read 
and  all  that  you  hear  cannot  give  you  an  idea  of 
what  his  name  meant  in  the  days  when  he  was  at 
the  summit  of  his  career. 

What  actually  met,  my  eye  was  very  different 
from  this  childish  expectation  of  mine.  To  the 
north  there  was  a  long  low  cape,  the  name  of  which 
has  now  escaped  me.  In  the  evening  light  it  had 
been  of  the  same  greyish  green  tint  as  the  other 
headlands,  but  now,  as  the  darkness  fell,  it  gradu- 
ally broke  into  a  dull  glow,  like  a  cooling  iron. 
On  that  wild  night,  seen  and  lost  with  the  heave 
and  sweep  of  the  boat,  this  lurid  streak  carried  with 
it  a  vague  but  sinister  suggestion.  The  red  line 
splitting  the  darkness  might  have  been  a  giant 


1 8  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

half-forged  sword  blade  with  its  point  towards 
England. 

"  What  is  it,  then?  "  I  asked. 

"  Just  what  I  say,  master,"  said  he.  "  It's  one 
of  Boney's  armies,  with  Boney  himself  in  the  mid- 
dle of  it  as  like  as  not.  Them  is  their  camp  fires, 
and  you'll  see  a  dozen  such  between  this  and  Os- 
tend.  He's  audacious  enough  to  come  across,  is 
little  Boney,  if  he  could  dowse  Lord  Nelson's  other 
eye;  but  there's  no  chance  for  him  until  then,  and 
well  he  knows  it." 

"  How  can  Lord  Nelson  know  what  he  is  do- 
ing? "  I  asked. 

The  man  pointed  out  over  my  shoulder  into 
the  darkness,  and  far  on  the  horizon  I  perceived 
three  little  twinkling  lights. 

"  Watch  dog,"  said  he,  in  his  husky  voice. 

"  Andromeda.  Forty-four,"  added  his  com- 
panion. 

I  have  often  thought  of  them  since,  the  long 
glow  upon  the  land,  and  the  three  little  lights  upon 
the  sea,  standing  for  so  much,  for  the  two  great 
rivals  face  to  face,  for  the  power  of  the  land  and 
the  power  of  the  water,  for  the  centuries-old  battle, 


THE  COAST   OF   FRANCE.  ig 

which  may  last  for  centuries  to  come.  And  yet, 
Frenchman  as  I  am,  do  I  not  know  that  the  strug- 
gle is  already  decided,  for  it  lies  between  the  child- 
less nation  and  that  which  has  a  lusty  young  brood 
springing  up  around  her.  If  France  falls  she  dies, 
but  if  England  falls,  how  many  nations  are  there 
who  will  carry  her  speech,  her  traditions,  and  her 
blood  on  into  the  history  of  the  future. 

The  land  had  been  looming  darker,  and  the 
thudding  of  the  waves  upon  the  sand  sounded 
louder  every  instant  upon  my  ears.  I  could  al- 
ready see  the  quick  dancing  gleam  of  the  surf  in 
front  of  me.  Suddenly,  as  I  peered  through  the 
deepening  shadow,  a  long,  dark  boat  shot  out  from 
it,  like  a  trout  from  under  a  stone,  making  straight 
in  our  direction. 

"  A  guard  boat!  "  cried  one  of  the  seamen. 

"Bill,  boy,  we're  done!"  said  the  other,  and 
began  to  stuff  something  into  his  sea  boot. 

But  the  boat  swerved  at  the  sight  of  us,  like  a 
shying  horse,  and  was  off  in  another  direction  as 
fast  as  eight  frantic  oars  could  drive  her.  The 
seamen  stared  after  her  and  wiped  their  brows. 
"  Her  conscience  don't  seem  much  easier  than  our 


20  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

own,"  said  one  of  them.  "  I  made  sure  it  was  the 
preventives." 

"  Looks  to  me  as  if  you  weren't  the  only  queer 
cargo  on  the  coast  to-night,  mister,"  remarked 
his  comrade. 

"  What  could  she  be?  " 

"  Cursed  if  I  know  what  she  was.  I  rammed  a 
cake  of  good  Trinidad  tobacco  into  my  boot  when 
I  saw  her.  I've  seen  the  inside  of  a  French  prison 
before  now.  Give  way,  Bill,  and  have  it  over." 

A  minute  later,  with  a  low  grating  sound,  we 
ran  aground  upon  a  gravelly  beach.  My  bundle 
was  thrown  ashore,  I  stepped  after  it,  and  a  sea- 
man pushed  the  prow  off  again,  springing  in  as 
his  comrade  backed  her  into  deep  water.  Already 
the  glow  in  the  west  had  vanished,  the  storm-cloud 
was  half  up  the  heavens,  and  a  thick  blackness 
had  gathered  over  the  ocean.  As  I  turned  to 
watch  the  vanishing  boat,  a  keen  wet  blast  flapped 
in  my  face,  and  the  air  was  filled  with  the  high 
piping  of  the  wind  and  with  the  deep  thunder  of 
the  sea. 

And  thus  it  was  that,  on  a  wild  evening  in  the 
early  spring  of  the  year  1805,  I,  Louis  de  Laval, 


THE  COAST  OF   FRANCE.  21 

being  in  the  twenty-first  year  of  my  age,  returned, 
after  an  exile  of  thirteen  years,  to  the  country  of 
which  my  family  had  for  many  centuries  been  the 
ornament  and  support.  She  had  treated  us  badly, 
this  country;  she  had  repaid  our  services  by  in- 
sult, exile,  and  confiscation.  But  all  that  was  for- 
gotten as  I,  the  only  de  Laval  of  the  new  genera- 
tion, dropped  upon  my  knees  upon  her  sacred  soil, 
and,  with  the  strong  smell  of  the  seaweed  in  my 
nostrils,  pressed  my  lips  upon  the  wet  and  prin- 
gling  gravel. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    SALT-MARSH. 

WHEN  a  man  has  reached  his  mature  age  he 
can  rest  at  that  point  of  vantage,  and  cast  his  eyes 
back  at  the  long  road  along  which  he  has  travelled, 
lying  with  its  gleams  of  sunshine  and  its  stretches 
of  shadow  in  the  valley  behind  him.  He  knows 
then  its  whence  and  its  whither,  and  the  twists  and 
bends  which  were  so  full  of  promise  or  of  menace 
as  he  approached  them  lie  exposed  and  open  to 
his  gaze.  So  plain  is  it  all  that  he  can  scarce  re- 
member how  dark  it  may  have  seemed  to  him,  or 
how  long  he  once  hesitated  at  the  cross  roads. 
Thus  when  he  tries  to  recall  each  stage  of  the 
journey  he  does  so  with  the  knowledge  of  its  end, 
and  can  no  longer  make  it  clear,  even  to  himself, 
how  it  may  have  seemed  to  him  at  the  time.  And 
yet,  in  spite  of  the  strain  of  years,  and  the  many 
passages  which  have  befallen  me  since,  there  is  no 


32 


THE   SALT-MARSH.  23 

time  of  my  life  which  comes  back  so  very  clearly  as 
that  gusty  evening,  and  to  this  day  I  cannot  feel 
the  briny  wholesome  whiff  of  the  seaweed  without 
being  carried  back,  with  that  intimate  feeling  of 
reality  which  only  the  sense  of  smell  can  confer,  to 
the  wet  shingle  of  the  French,  beach. 

When  I  had  risen  from  my  knees,  the  first 
thing  that  I  did  was  to  put  my  purse  into  the 
inner  pocket  of  my  coat.  I  had  taken  it  out  in 
order  to  give  a  gold  piece  to  the  sailor  who  had 
handed  me  ashore,  though  I  have  little  doubt  that 
the  fellow  was  both  wealthier  and  of  more  assured 
prospects  than  myself.  I  had  actually  drawn  out 
a  silver  half-crown,  but  I  could  not  bring  myself 
to  offer  it  to  him,  and  so  ended  by  giving  a  tenth 
part  of  my  whole  fortune  to  a  stranger.  The  other 
nine  sovereigns  I  put  very  carefully  away,  and  then, 
sitting  down  upon  a  flat  rock  just  above  high  water 
mark,  I  turned  it  all  over  in  my  mind  and  weighed 
what  I  should  do.  Already  I  was  cold  and  hun- 
gry, with  the  wind  lashing  my  face  and  the  spray 
smarting  in  my  eyes,  but  at  least  I  was  no  longer 
living  upon  the  charity  of  the  enemies  of  my  coun- 
try, and  the  thought  set  my  heart  dancing  within 
3 


24  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

me.  But  the  castle,  as  well  as  I  could  remember, 
was  a  good  ten  miles  off.  To  go  there  now  was  to 
arrive  at  an  unseemly  hour,  unkempt  and  weather- 
stained,  before  this  uncle  whom  I  had  never  seen. 
My  sensitive  pride  conjured  up  a  picture  of  the 
scornful  faces  of  his  servants  as  they  looked  out 
upon  this  bedraggled  wanderer  from  England 
slinking  back  to  the  castle  which  should  have  been 
his  own.  No,  I  must  seek  shelter  for  the  night, 
and  then  at  my  leisure,  with  as  fair  a  show  of  ap- 
pearances as  possible,  I  must  present  myself  before 
my  relative.  Where  then  could  I  find  a  refuge 
from  the  storm? 

You  will  ask  me,  doubtless,  why  I  did  not  make 
for  Etaples  or  Boulogne.  I  answer  that  it  was 
for  the  same  reason  which  forced  me  to  land  se- 
cretly upon  that  forbidding  coast.  The  name  of 
de  Laval  still  headed  the  list  of  the  proscribed,  for 
my  father  had  been  a  famous  and  energetic  leader 
of  the  small  but  influential  body  of  men  who  had 
remained  true  at  all  costs  to  the  old  order  of  things. 
Do  not  think  that,  because  I  was  of  another  way 
of  thinking,  I  despised  those  who  had  given  up 
so  much  for  their  principles.  There  is  a  curious 
' 


THE   SALT-MARSH.  25 

saintlike  trait  in  our  natures  which  draws  us  most 
strongly  towards  that  which  involves  the  greatest 
sacrifice,  and  I  have  sometimes  thought  that  if 
the  conditions  had  been  less  onerous  the  Bourbons 
might  have  had  fewer,  or  at  least  less  noble,  fol- 
lowers. The  French  nobles  had  been  more  faith- 
ful to  them  than  the  English  to  the  Stuarts,  for 
Cromwell  had  no  luxurious  court  or  rich  appoint- 
ments which  he  could  hold  out  to  those  who  would 
desert  the  royal  cause.  No  words  can  exaggerate 
the  self-abnegation  of  those  men.  I  have  seen  a 
supper  party  under  my  father's  roof  where  .  our 
guests  were  two  fencing-masters,  three  professors 
of  language,  one  ornamental  gardener,  and  one 
translator  of  books,  who  held  his  hand  in  the  front 
of  the  coat  to  conceal  a  rent  in  the  lapel.  But 
these  eight  men  were  of  the  highest  nobility  of 
France,  who  might  have  had  what  they  chose  to 
ask. if  they  would  only  consent  to  forget  the  past, 
and  to  throw  themselves  heartily  into  the  new  or- 
der of  things.  But  the  humble,  and  what  is  sadder 
the  incapable,  monarch  of  Hartwell  still  held  the 
allegiance  of  those  old  Montmorencies,  Rohans, 
and  Choiseuls,  who,  having  shared  the  greatness 


26  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

of  his  family,  were  determined  also  to  stand  by  it 
in  its  ruin.  The  dark  chambers  of  that  exiled 
monarch  were  furnished  with  something  better 
than  the  tapestry  of  Gobelins  or  the  china  of 
Sevres.  Across  the  gulf  which  separates  my  old 
age  from  theirs  I  can  still  see  those  ill-clad,  grave- 
mannered  men,  and  I  raise  my  hat  to  the  noblest 
group  of  nobles  that  our  history  can  show. 

To  visit  a  coast-town,  therefore,  before  I  had 
seen  my  uncle,  or  learnt  whether  my  return  had 
been  sanctioned,  would  be  simply  to  deliver  myself 
into  the  hands  of  the  gens  d'armes,  who  were  ever 
on  the  look-out  for  strangers  from  England.  To 
go  before  the  new  Emperor  was  one  thing,  and  to 
be  dragged  before  him  another.  On  the  whole, 
it  seemed  to  me  that  my  best  course  was  to  wander 
inland,  in  the  hope  of  finding  some  empty  barn  or 
out-house,  where  I  could  pass  the  night  unseen 
and  undisturbed.  Then  in  the  morning  I  should 
consider  how  it  was  best  for  me  to  approach  my 
Uncle  Bernac,  and  through  him  the  new  master  of 
France. 

The  wind  had  freshened  meanwhile  into  a  gale, 
and  it  was  so  dark  upon  the  seaward  side  that  I 


THE   SALT-MARSH.  27 

could  only  catch  the  white  flash  of  a  leaping  wave 
here  and  there  in  the  blackness.  Of  the  lugger 
which  had  brought  me  from  Dover  I  could  see  no 
sign.  On  the  land  side  of  me  there  seemed,  as  far 
as  I  could  make  it  out,  to  be  a  line  of  low  hills,  but 
when  I  came  to  traverse  them  I  found  that  the 
dim  light  had  exaggerated  their  size,  and  that  they 
were  mere  scattered  sand-dunes,  mottled  with 
patches  of  bramble.  Over  these  I  toiled  with  my 
bundle  slung  over  my  shoulder,  plodding  heavily 
through  the  loose  sand,  and  tripping  over  the 
creepers,  but  forgetting  my  wet  clothes  and  my 
numb  hands  as  I  recalled  the  many  hardships  and 
adventures  which  my  ancestors  had  undergone. 
It  amused  me  to  think  that  the  day  might  come 
when  my  own  descendants  might  fortify  them- 
selves by  the  recollection  of  that  which  was  hap- 
pening to  me,  for  in  a  great  family  like  ours  the 
individual  is  always  subordinate  to  the  race. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  I  should  never  get  to  the 
end  of  the  Sand-dunes,  but  when  at  last  I  did  come 
off  them  I  heartily  wished  that  I  was  back  upon 
them  again;  for  the  sea  in  that  part  comes  by  some 
creek  up  the  back  of  the  beach,  forming  at  low 


28  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

tide  a  great  desolate  salt-marsh,  which  must  be 
a  forlorn  place  even  in  the  daytime,  but  upon  such 
a  night  as  that  it  was  a  most  dreary  wilderness. 
At  first  it  was  but  a  softness  of  the  ground,  caus- 
ing me  to  slip  as  I  walked,  but  soon  the  mud  was 
over  my  ankles  and  half-way  up  to  my  knees,  so 
that  each  foot  gave  a  loud  flop  as  I  raised  it,  and 
a  dull  splash  as  I  set  it  down  again.  I  would 
willingly  have  made  my  way  out,  even  if  I  had  to 
return  to  the  sand-dunes,  but  in  trying  to  pick  my 
path  I  had  lost  all  my  bearings,  and  the  air  was  so 
full  of  the  sounds  of  the  storm  that  the  sea  seemed 
to  be  on  every  side  of  me.  I  had  heard  of  how  one 
may  steer  oneself  by  observation  of  the  stars,  but 
my  quiet  English  life  had  not  taught  me  how  such 
things  were  done,  and  had  I  known  I  could  scarcely 
have  profited  by  it,  since  the  few  stars  which  were 
visible  peeped  out  here  and  there  in  the  rifts  of  the 
flying  storm-clouds.  I  wandered  on  then,  wet  and 
weary,  trusting  to  fortune,  but  always  blundering 
deeper  and  deeper  into  this  horrible  bog,  until  I 
began  to  think  that  my  first  night  in  France 
was  destined  also  to  be  my  last,  and  that  the 
heir  of  the  de  Lavals  was  destined  to  perish  of 


THE   SALT-MARSH.  29 

cold  and  misery  in  the  depths  of  this  obscene 
morass. 

I  must  have  toiled  for  many  miles  in  this  dreary 
fashion,  sometimes  coming  upon  shallower  mud 
and  sometimes  upon  deeper,  but  never  making  my 
way  on  to  the  dry,  when  I  perceived  through  the 
gloom  something  which  turned  my  heart  even 
heavier  than  it  had  been  before.  This  was  a  curi- 
ous clump  of  some  whitish  shrub — cotton-grass  of 
a  flowering  variety — which  glimmered  suddenly 
before  me  in  the  darkness.  Now,  an  hour  earlier  I 
had  passed  just  such  a  square-headed,  whitish 
clump;  so  that  I  was  confirmed  in  the  opinion 
which  I  had  already  begun  to  form,  that  I  was 
wandering  in  a  circle.  To  make  it  certain  I 
stooped  down,  striking  a  momentary  flash  from 
my  tinder-box,  and  there  sure  enough  was  my  own 
old  track  very  clearly  marked  in  the  brown  mud 
in  front  of  me.  At  this  confirmation  of  my  worst 
fears  I  threw  my  eyes  up  to  heaven  in  my  despair, 
and  there  I  saw  something  which  for  the  first  time 
gave  me  a  clue  in  the  uncertainty  which  sur- 
rounded me. 

It  was  nothing  else  than  a  glimpse  of  the  moon 


•p  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

between  two  flowing  clouds.  This  in  itself  might 
have  been  of  small  avail  to  me,  but  over  its  white 
face  was  marked  a  long  thin  V,  which  shot  swiftly 
across  like  a  shaftless  arrow.  It  was  a  flock  of 
wild  ducks,  and  its  flight  was  in  the  same  direction 
as  that  towards  which  my  face  was  turned.  Now, 
I  had  observed  in  Kent  how  all  these  creatures 
come  further  inland  when  there  is  rough  weather 
breaking,  so  I  made  no  doubt  that  their  course 
indicated  the  path  which  would  lead  me  away  from 
the  sea.  I  struggled  on,  therefore,  taking  every 
precaution  to  walk  in  a  straight  line,  above  all  be- 
ing very  careful  to  make  a  stride  of  equal  length 
with  either  leg,  until  at  last,  after  half  an  hour  or 
so,  my  perseverance  was  rewarded  by  the  welcome 
sight  of  a  little  yellow  light,  as  from  a  cottage 
window,  glimmering  through  the  darkness.  Ah, 
how  it  shone  through  my  eyes  and  down  into  my 
heart,  glowing  and  twinkling  there,  that  little 
golden  speck,  which  meant  food,  and  rest,  and  life 
itself  to  the  wanderer!  I  blundered  towards  it 
through  the  mud  and  the  slush  as  fast  as  my 
weary  legs  would  bear  me.  I  was  too  cold  and 
miserable  to  refuse  any  shelter,  and  I  had  no  doubt 


THE   SALT-MARSH.  31 

that  for  the  sake  of  one  of  my  gold  pieces  the  fish- 
erman or  peasant  who  lived  in  this  strange  situa- 
tion would  shut  his  eyes  to  whatever  might  be 
suspicious  in  my  presence  or  appearance. 

As  I  approached  it  became  more  and  more 
wonderful  to  me  that  anyone  should  live  there  at 
all,  for  the  bog  grew  worse  rather  than  better,  and 
in  the  occasional  gleams  of  moonshine  I  could 
make  out  that  the  water  lay  in  glimmering  pools 
all  round  the  low,  dark  cottage,  from  which  the 
light  was  breaking.  I  could  see  now  that  it  shone 
through  a  small  square  window.  As  I  approached 
the  gleam  was  suddenly  obscured,  and  there  in  a 
yellow  frame  appeared  the  round  black  outline  of  a 
man's  head  peering  out  into  the  darkness.  A  sec- 
ond time  it  appeared  before  I  reached  the  cottage, 
and  there  was  something  in  the  stealthy  manner 
in  which  it  peeped  and  whisked  away,  and  peeped 
once  more,  which  filled  me  with  surprise,  and  with 
a  certain  vague  apprehension. 

So  cautious  were  the  movements  of  this  sen- 
tinel, and  so  singular  the  position  of  his  watch- 
house,  that  I  determined,  in  spite  of  my  misery, 
to  see  something  more  of  him  before  I  trusted  my- 


32  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

self  to  the  shelter  of  his  roof.  And,  indeed,  the 
amount  of  shelter  which  I  might  hope  for  was  not 
very  great,  for  as  I  drew  softly  nearer  I  could  see 
that  the  light  from  within  was  beating  through  at 
several  points,  and  that  the  whole  cottage  was  in 
the  most  crazy  state  of  disrepair.  For  a  moment 
I  paused,  thinking  that  even  the  salt-marsh  might 
perhaps  be  a  safer  resting-place  for  the  night  than 
the  headquarters  of  some  desperate  smuggler,  for 
such  I  conjectured  that  this  lonely  dwelling  must 
be.  The  scud,  however,  had  covered  the  moon 
once  more,  and  the  darkness  was  so  pitchy  black 
that  I  felt  that  I  might  reconnoitre  a  little  more 
closely  without  fear  of  discovery.  Walking  on 
tiptoe  I  approached  the  little  window  and 
looked  in. 

What  I  saw  reassured  me  vastly.  A  small 
wood  fire  was  crackling  in  one  of  those  old-fash- 
ioned country  grates,  and  beside  it  was  seated  a 
strikingly  handsome  young  man,  who  was  read- 
ing earnestly  out  of  a  fat  little  book.  He  had  an 
oval,  olive-tinted  face,  with  long  black  hair,  un- 
gathered  in  a  queue,  and  there  was  something  of 
the  poet  or  of  the  artist  in  his  whole  appearance. 


THE   SALT-MARSH. 


33 


The  sight  of  that  refined  face,  and  of  the  warm, 
yellow  firelight  which  beat  upon  it,  was  a  very 
cheering  one  to  a  cold  and  famished  traveller.  I 
stood  for  an  instant  gazing  at  him,  and  noticing 
the  way  in  which  his  full  and  somewhat  loose-fit- 
ting lower  lip  quivered  continually,  as  if  he  were 
repeating  to  himself  that  which  he  was  reading. 
I  was  still  looking  at  him  when  he  put  his  book 
down  upon  the  table  and  approached  the  window. 
Catching  a  glimpse  of  my  figure  in  the  darkness 
he  called  out  something  which  I  could  not  hear 
and  waved  his  hand  in  a  gesture  of  welcome.  An 
instant  later  the  door  flew  open,  and  there  was  his 
thin,  tall  figure  standing  upon  the  threshold,  with 
his  skirts  flapping  in  the  wind. 

"  My  dear  friends,"  he  cried,  peering  out  into 
the  gloom  with  his  hand  over  his  eyes  to  screen 
them  from  the  salt-laden  wind  and  driving  sand, 
"  I  had  given  you  up.  I  thought  that  you  were 
never  coming.  I've  been  waiting  for  two  hours." 

For  answer  I  stepped  out  in  front  of  him,  so 
that  the  light  fell  upon  my  face. 

"  I  am  afraid,  sir, ,"  said  I. 

But  I  had  no  time  to  finish  my  sentence.     He 


34  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

struck  at  me  with  both  hands  like  an  angry  cat, 
and,  springing  back  into  the  room,  he  slammed 
the  door  with  a  crash  in  my  face. 

The  swiftness  of  his  movements  and  the  ma- 
lignity of  his  gesture  were  in  such  singular  contrast 
vrith  his  appearance  that  I  was  struck  speechless 
with  surprise.  But  as  I  stood  there  with  the  door 
in  front  of  me  I  was  a  witness  to  something  which 
filled  me  with  even  greater  astonishment. 

I  have  already  said  that  the  cottage  was  in  the 
last  stage  of  disrepair.  Amidst  the  many  seams 
and  cracks  through  which  the  light  was  breaking 
there  was  one  along  the  whole  of  the  hinge  side 
of  the  door,  which  gave  me  from  where  I  was 
standing  a  view  of  the  further  end  of  the  room, 
at  which  the  fire  was  burning.  As  I  gazed  then 
I  saw  this  man  reappear  in  front  of  the  fire, 
fumbling  furiously  with  both  his  hands  in  his 
bosom,  and  then  with  a  spring  he  disappeared  up 
the  chimney,  so  that  I  could  only  see  his  shoes  and 
half  of  his  black  calves  as  he  stood  upon  the  brick- 
work at  the  side  of  the  grate.  In  an  instant  he  was 
down  again  and  back  at  the  door. 

"  Who  are  you?  "  he  cried,  in  a  voice  which 


THE   SALT-MARSH. 


35 


seemed  to  me  to  be  thrilling  with  some  strong 
emotion. 

"  I  am  a  traveller,  and  have  lost  my  way." 

There  was  a  pause,  as  if  he  were  thinking  what 
course  he  should  pursue. 

'  You  will  find  little  here  to  tempt   you   to 
stay,"  said  he  at  last. 

"  I  am  weary  and  spent,  sir;  and  surely  you 
will  not  refuse  me  shelter.  I  have  been  wander- 
ing for  hours  in  the  salt-marsh." 

"  Did  you  meet  anyone  there? "  he  asked 
eagerly. 

"  No." 

"  Stand  back  a  little  from  the  door.  This  is 
a  wild  place,  and  the  times  are  troublous.  A 
man  must  take  some  precautions." 

I  took  a  few  steps  back,  and  he  then  opened 
the  door  sufficiently  to  allow  his  head  to  come 
through.  He  said  nothing,  but  he  looked  at  me 
for  a  long  time  in  a  very  searching  manner. 

"  What  is  your  name?  " 

"  Louis  Laval,"  said  I,  thinking  that  it  might 
sound  less  dangerous  in  this  plebeian  form. 

"  Whither  are  you  going?  " 


36  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"  I  wish  to  reach  some  shelter." 

"  You  are  from  England?  " 

"  I  am  from  the  coast." 

He  shook  his  head  slowly  to  show  me  how 
little  my  replies  had  satisfied  him. 

'  You  cannot  come  in  here,"  said  he. 

"  But  surely " 

"  No,  no,  it  is  impossible." 

"  Show  me  then  how  to  find  my  way  out  of 
the  marsh." 

"  It  is  easy  enough.  If  you  go  a  few  hundred 
paces  in  that  direction  you  will  perceive  the  lights 
of  a  village.  You  are  already  almost  free  of  the 
marsh." 

He  stepped  a  pace  or  two  from  the  door  in 
order  to  point  the  way  for  me,  and  then  turned 
upon  his  heel.  I  had  already  taken  a  stride  or 
two  away  from  him  and  his  inhospitable  hut,  when 
he  suddenly  called  after  me. 

"Come,  Monsieur  Laval,", said  he,  with  quite 
a  different  ring  in  his  voice,  "  I  really  cannot  per- 
mit you  to  leave  me  upon  so  tempestuous  a  night. 
A  warm  by  my  fire  and  a  glass  of  brandy  will 
hearten  you  upon  your  way." 


THE   SALT-MARSH.  37 

You  may  think  that  I  did  not  feel  disposed  to 
contradict  him,  though  I  could  make  nothing  of 
this  sudden  and  welcome  change  in  his  manner. 

"  I  am  much  obliged  to  you,  sir,"  said  I. 

And  I  followed  him  into  the  hut. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    RUINED    COTTAGE. 

IT  was  delightful  to  see  the  glow  and  twinkle 
of  the  fire  and  to  escape  from  the  wet  wind  and 
the  numbing  cold,  but  my  curiosity  had  already 
risen  so  high  about  this  lonely  man  and  his  singu- 
lar dwelling  that  my  thoughts  ran  rather  upon 
that  than  upon  my  personal  comfort.  There  was 
his  remarkable  appearance,  the  fact  that  he  should 
be  awaiting  company  within  that  miserable  ruin 
in  the  heart  of  the  morass  at  so  sinister  an  hour, 
and  finally  the  inexplicable  incident  of  the  chim- 
ney, all  of  which  excited  my  imagination.  It  was 
beyond  my  comprehension  why  he  should  at  one 
moment  charge  me  sternly  to  continue  my  jour- 
ney and  then,  in  almost  the  same  breath,  invite 
me  most  cordially  to  seek  the  shelter  of  his  hut. 
On  all  these  points  I  was  keenly  on  the  alert  for  an 
explanation.  Yet  I  endeavoured  to  conceal  my 

feelings,  and  to  assume  the  air  of  a  man  who  finds 

38 


THE    RUINED  COTTAGE. 


39 


everything  quite  natural  about  him,  and  who  is 
much  too  absorbed  in  his  own  personal  wants  to 
have  a  thought  to  spare  upon  anything  outside 
himself. 

A  glance  at  the  inside  of  the  cottage,  as  I 
entered,  confirmed  me  in  the  conjecture  which 
the  appearance  of  the  outside  had  already  given 
rise  to,  that  it  was  not  used  for  human  residence, 
and  that  this  man  was  only  here  for  a  rendezvous. 
Prolonged  moisture  had  peeled  the  plaster  in 
flakes  from  the  walls,  and  had  covered  the  stones 
with  blotches  and  rosettes  of  lichen.  The  whole 
place  was  rotted  and  scaling  like  a  leper.  The 
single  large  room  was  unfurnished  save  for  a 
crazy  table,  three  wooden  boxes,  which  might  be 
used  as  seats,  and  a  great  pile  of  decayed  fishing 
net  in  the  corner.  The  splinters  of  a  fourth  box, 
with  a  hand-axe,  which  leaned  against  the  wall, 
showed  how  the  wood  for  the  fire  had  been  gath- 
ered. But  it  was  to  the  table  that  my  gaze  was 
chiefly  drawn,  for  there,  beside  the  lamp  and  the 
book,  lay  an  open  basket,  from  which  projected 
the  knuckle-end  of  a  ham,  the  corner  of  a  loaf  of 

bread,  and  the  black  neck  of  a  bottle. 
4 


40  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

If  my  host  had  been  suspicious  and  cold  at  our 
first  meeting  he  was  now  atoning  for  his  inhos- 
pitality  by  an  overdone  cordiality  even  harder  for 
me  to  explain.  With  many  lamentations  over  my 
mud-stained  and  sodden  condition,  he  drew  a  box 
close  to  the  blaze  and  cut  me  off  a  corner  of  the 
bread  and  ham.  I  could  not  help  observing,  how- 
ever, that  though  his  loose,  under-lipped  mouth 
was  wreathed  with  smiles,  his  beautiful  dark  eyes 
were  continually  running  over  me  and  my  attire, 
asking  and  reasking  what  my  business  might  be. 

"  As  for  myself,"  said  he,  with  an  air  of  false 
candour,  "  you  will  very  well  understand  that  in 
these  days  a  worthy  merchant  must  do  the  best 
he  can  to  get  his  wares,  and  if  the  Emperor,  God 
save  him,  sees  fit  in  his  wisdom  to  put  an  end  to 
open  trade,  one  must  come  to  such  places  as  these 
to  get  into  touch  with  those  who  bring  across 
the  coffee  and  the  tobacco.  I  promise  you  that 
in  the  Tuileries  itself  there  is  no  difficulty  about 
getting  either  one  or  the  other,  and  the  Emperor 
drinks  his  ten  cups  a  day  of  the  real  Mocha  with- 
out asking  questions,  though  he  must  know  that 
it  is  not  grown  within  the  confines  of  France. 


THE   RUINED  COTTAGE.  41 

The  vegetable  kingdom  still  remains  one  of  the 
few  which  Napoleon  has  not  yet  conquered,  and, 
if  it  were  not  for  traders,  who  are  at  some  risk 
and  inconvenience,  it  is  hard  to  say  what  we 
should  do  for  our  supplies.  I  suppose,  sir,  that 
you  are  not  yourself  either  in  the  seafaring  or  in 
the  trading  line?  " 

I  contented  myself  by  answering  that  I  was 
not,  by  which  reticence  I  could  see  that  I  only 
excited  his  curiosity  the  more.  As  to  his  account 
of  himself,  I  read  a  lie  in  those  tell-tale  eyes  all 
the  time  that  he  was  talking.  As  I  looked  at  him 
now  in  the  full  light  of  the  lamp  and  the  fire,  I 
could  see  that  he  was  even  more  good  looking 
than  I  had  at  first  thought,  but  with  a  type  of 
beauty  which  has  never  been  to  my  taste.  His 
features  were  so  refined  as  to  be  almost  effeminate, 
and  so  regular  that  they  would  have  been  perfect 
if  it  had  not  been  for  that  ill-fitting,  slabbing 
mouth.  It  was  a  clever,  and  yet  it  was  a  weak 
face,  full  of  a  sort  of  fickle  enthusiasm  and  feeble 
impulsiveness.  I  felt  that  the  more  I  knew  him 
the  less  reason  I  should  probably  find  either  to 
like  him  or  to  fear  him,  and  in  my  first  conclusion 


42  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

I  was  right,  although  I  had  occasion  to  change 
my  views  upon  the  second. 

"  You  will  forgive  me,  Monsieur  Laval,  if  I  was 
a  little  cold  at  first,"  said  he.  "  Since  the  Em- 
peror has  been  upon  the  coast  the  place  swarms 
with  police  agents,  so  that  a  trader  must  look 
to  his  own  interests.  You  will  allow  that  my  fears 
of  you  were  not  unnatural,  since  neither  your 
dress  nor  your  appearance  were  such  as  one  would 
expect  to  meet  with  in  such  a  place  and  at  such 
a  time." 

It  was  on  my  lips  to  return  the  remark,  but 
I  refrained. 

"  I  can  assure  you,"  said  I,  "  that  I  am  merely 
a  traveller  who  have  lost  my  way.  Now  that  I 
am  refreshed  and  rested  I  will  not  encroach  fur- 
ther upon  your  hospitality,  except  to  ask  you  to 
point  out  the  way  to  the  nearest  village." 

"Tut;  you  had  best  stay  where  you  are,  for 
the  night  grows  wilder  every  instant."  As  he 
spoke  there  came  a  whoop  and  scream  of  wind 
in  the  chimney,  as  if  the  old  place  were  coming 
down  about  our  ears.  He  walked  across  to  the 
window  and  looked  very  earnestly  out  of  it,  just 


THE   RUINED  COTTAGE.  43 

as  I  had  seen  him  do  upon  my  first  approach. 
"  The  fact  is,  Monsieur  Laval,"  said  he,  looking 
round  at  me  with  his  false  air  of  good  fellowship, 
"  you  may  be  of  some  good  service  to  me  if  you 
will  wait  here  for  half  an  hour  or  so." 

"  How  so?  "  I  asked,  wavering  between  my 
distrust  and  my  curiosity. 

"  Well,  to  be  frank  with  you  " — and  never  did 
a  man  look  less  frank  as  he  spoke — "  I  am  wait- 
ing here  for  some  of  those  people  with  whom  I 
do  business;  but  in  some  way  they  have  not  come 
yet,  and  I  am  inclined  to  take  a  walk  round  the 
marsh  on  the  chance  of  finding  them,  if  they  have 
lost  their  way.  On  the  other  hand,  it  would  be 
exceeding  awkward  for  me  if  they  were  to  come 
here  in  my  absence  and  imagine  that  I  am  gone.  I 
should  take  it  as  a  favour,  then,  if  you  would  re- 
main here  for  half  an  hour  or  so,  that  you  may 
tell  them  how  matters  stand  if  I  should  chance  to 
miss  them." 

The  request  seemed  reasonable  enough,  and 
yet  there  was  that  same  oblique  glance  which  told 
me  that  it  was  false.  Still,  I  could  not  see  what 
harm  could  come  to  me  by  complying  with  his 


44  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

request,  and  certainly  I  could  not  have  devised 
any  arrangement  which  would  give  me  such  an 
opportunity  of  satisfying  my  curiosity.  What  was 
in  that  wide  stone  chimney,  and  why  had  he 
clambered  up  there  upon  the  sight  of  me?  My 
adventure  would  be  inconclusive  indeed  if  I  did 
not  settle  that  point  before  I  went  on  with  my 
journey. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  snatching  up  his  black  broad- 
brimmed  hat  and  running  very  briskly  to  the  door, 
"  I  am  sure  that  you  will  not  refuse  me  my  request, 
and  I  must  delay  no  longer  or  I  shall  never  get 
my  business  finished."  He  closed  the  door  hur- 
riedly behind  him,  and  I  heard  the  splashing  of 
his  footsteps  until  they  were  lost  in  the  howling 
of  the  gale. 

And  so  the  mysterious  cottage  was  mine  to 
ransack  if  I  could  pluck  its  secrets  from  it.  I 
lifted  the  book  which  had  been  left  upon  the  table. 
It  was  Rousseau's  "  Social  Contract " — excellent 
literature,  but  hardly  what  one  would  expect  a 
trader  to  carry  with  him  whilst  awaiting  an  ap- 
pointment with  smugglers.  On  the  fly-leaf  was 
written  "  Lucien  Lesage,"  and  beneath  it,  in  a 


THE   RUINED  COTTAGE.  45 

woman's  hand,  "  Lucien,  from  Sibylle."  Lesage, 
then,  was  the  name  of  my  good-looking  but  sinis- 
ter acquaintance.  It  only  remained  for  me  now 
to  discover  what  it  was  which  he  had  concealed 
up  the  chimney.  I  listened  intently,  and  as  there 
was  no  sound  from  without,  save  the  cry  of  the 
storm,  I  stepped  on  to  the  edge  of  the  grate  as 
I  had  seen  him  do,  and  sprang  up  by  the  side  of 
the  fire. 

It  was  a  very  broad,  old-fashioned  cottage 
chimney,  so  that  standing  on  one  side  I  was  not 
inconvenienced  either  by  the  heat  or  by  the  smoke, 
and  the  bright  glare  from  below  showed  me  in  an 
instant  that  for  which  I  sought.  There  was  a 
recess  at  the  back,  caused  by  the  fall  or  removal  of 
one  of  the  stones,  and  in  this  was  lying  a  small 
bundle.  There  could  not  be  the  least  doubt  that 
it  was  this  which  the  fellow  had  striven  so  fran- 
tically to  conceal  upon  the  first  alarm  of  the  ap- 
proach of  a  stranger.  I  took  it  down  and  held 
it  to  the  light. 

It  was  a  small  square  of  yellow  glazed  cloth 
tied  round  with  white  tape.  Upon  my  opening  it  a 
number  of  letters  appeared,  and  a  single  large 


46  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

paper  folded  up.  The  addresses  upon  the  letters 
took  my  breath  away.  The  first  that  I  glanced 
at  was  to  Citizen  Talleyrand.  The  others  were 
in  the  same  Republican  style  addressed  to  Citizen 
Fouche,  to  Citizen  Soult,  to  Citizen  MacDonald, 
to  Citizen  Berthier,  and  so  on  through  the  whole 
list  of  famous  names  in  war  and  in  diplomacy  who 
were  the  pillars  of  the  new  Empire.  What  in  the 
world  could  this  pretended  merchant  of  coffee 
have  to  write  to  all  these  great  notables  about! 
The  other  paper  would  explain,  no  doubt.  I  laid 
the  letters  upon  the  shelf  and  I  unfolded  the  paper 
which  had  been  enclosed  with  them.  It  did  not 
take  more  than  the  opening  sentence  to  convince 
me  that  the  salt-marsh  outside  might  prove  to 
be  a  very  much  safer  place  than  this  accursed  cot- 
tage. 

These  were  the  words  which  met  my  eyes: 
"  Fellow-citizens  of  France.  The  deed  of 
to-day  has  proved  that,  even  in  the  midst  of  his 
troops,  a  tyrant  is  unable  to  escape  the  vengeance 
of  an  outraged  people.  The  committee  of  three, 
acting  temporarily  for  the  Republic,  has  awarded 
to  Buonaparte  the  same  fate  which  has  already 


THE   RUINED   COTTAGE.  47 

befallen  Louis  Capet.  In  avenging  the  outrage 
of  the  1 8th  Brumaire " 

So  far  I  had  got  when  my  heart  sprang  sud- 
denly into  my  mouth  and  the  paper  fluttered  down 
from  my  ringers.  A  grip  of  iron  had  closed  sud- 
denly round  each  of  my  ankles,  and  there  in  the 
light  of  the  fire  I  saw  two  hands  which,  even  in 
that  terrified  glance,  I  perceived  to  be  covered 
with  black  hair  and  of  an  enormous  size. 

"  So,  my  friend,"  cried  a  thundering  voice, 
"  this  time,  at  least,  we  have  been  too  many  for 
you." 


CHAPTER    IV. 

MEN    OF   THE    NIGHT. 

I  HAD  little  time  given  me  to  realise  the  extra- 
ordinary and  humiliating  position  in  which  I  found 
myself,  for  I  was  lifted  up  by  my  ankles,  as  if  I 
were  a  fowl  pulled  off  a  perch,  and  jerked  roughly 
down  into  the  room,  my  back  striking  upon  the 
stone  floor  with  a  thud  which  shook  the  breath 
from  my  body. 

"  Don't  kill  him  yet,  Toussac,"  said  a  soft 
voice.  "  Let  us  make  sure  who  he  is  first." 

I  felt  the  pressure  of  a  thumb  upon  my  chin 
and  of  fingers  upon  my  throat,  and  my  head  was 
slowly  forced  round  until  the  strain  became  un- 
bearable. 

"  Quarter  of  an  inch  does  it  and  no  mark," 
said  the  thunderous  voice.  "  You  can  trust  my 
old  turn." 

"  Don't,  Toussac;  don't!  "  said  the  same  gentle 
48 


MEN   OF    THE   NIGHT. 


49 


voice  which  had  spoken  first.  "  I  saw  you  do  it 
once  before,  and  the  horrible  snick  that  it  made 
haunted  me  for  a  long  time.  To  think  that  the 
sacred  flame  of  life  can  be  so  readily  snuffed  out 
by  that  great  material  finger  and  thumb!  Mind 
can  indeed  conquer  matter,  but  the  fighting  must 
not  be  at  close  quarters." 

My  neck  was  so  twisted  that  I  could  not  see 
any  of  these  people  who  were  discussing  my  fate. 
I  could  only  lie  and  listen. 

"  The  fact  remains,  my  dear  Charles,  that  the 
fellow  has  our  all-important  secret,  and  that  it  is 
our  lives  or  his."  I  recognised  in  the  voice  which 
was  now  speaking  that  of  the  man  of  the  cottage. 
"  We  owe  it  to  ourselves  to  put  it  out  of  his  power 
to  harm  us.  Let  him  sit  up,  Toussac,  for  there 
is  no  possibility  of  his  escaping." 

Some  irresistible  force  at  the  back  of  my  neck 
dragged  me  instantly  into  a  sitting  position,  and 
so  for  the  first  time  I  was  able  to  look  round  me 
in  a  dazed  fashion,  and  to  see  these  men  into  whose 
hands  I  had  fallen.  That  they  were  murderers  in 
the  past  and  had  murderous  plans  for  the  future  I 
already  gathered  from  what  I  had  heard  and  seen. 


50  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

I  understood  also  that  in  the  heart  of  that  lonely 
marsh  I  was  absolutely  in  their  power.  None  the 
less,  I  remembered  the  name  that  I  bore,  and  I 
concealed  as  far  as  I  could  the  sickening  terror 
which  lay  at  my  heart. 

There  were  three  of  them  in  the  room,  my 
former  acquaintance  and  two  new  comers.  Lesage 
stood  by  the  table,  with  his  fat  brown  book  in  his 
hand,  looking  at  me  with  a  composed  face,  but 
with  that  humorous  questioning  twinkle  in  his 
eyes  which  a  master  chess-player  might  assume 
when  he  had  left  his  opponent  without  a  move. 
On  the  top  of  the  box  beside  him  sat  a  very  as- 
cetic-faced, yellow,  hollow-eyed  man  of  fifty,  with 
prim  lips  and  a  shrunken  skin,  which  hung  loosely 
over  the  long  jerking  tendons  under  his  promi- 
nent chin.  He  was  dressed  in  snuff-coloured 
clothes,  and  his  legs  under  his  knee-breeches  were 
of  a  ludicrous  thinness.  He  shook  his  head  at  me 
with  an  air  of  sad  wisdom,  and  I  could  read  little 
comfort  in  his  inhuman  grey  eyes.  But  it  was 
the  man  called  Toussac  who  alarmed  me  most. 
He  was  a  colossus;  bulky  rather  than  tall,  but 
misshapen  from  his  excess  of  muscle.  His  huge 


MEN   OF   THE   NIGHT.  5! 

legs  were  crooked  like  those  of  a  great  ape,  and, 
indeed,  there  was  something  animal  about  his 
whole  appearance,  for  he  was  bearded  up  to  his 
eyes,  and  it  was  a  paw  rather  than  a  hand  which 
still  clutched  me  by  the  collar.  As  to  his  expres- 
sion, he  was  too  thatched  with  hair  to  show  one, 
but  his  large  black  eyes  looked  with  a  sinister 
questioning  from  me  to  the  others.  If  they  were 
the  judge  and  jury,  it  was  clear  who  was  to  be 
executioner. 

"  Whence  did  he  come?  What  is  his  business? 
How  came  he  to  know  the  hiding  place?  "  asked 
the  thin  man. 

"  When  he  first  came  I  mistook  him  for  you 
in  the  darkness,"  Lesage  answered.  "  You  will 
acknowledge  that  it  was  not  a  night  on  which 
one  would  expect  to  meet  many  people  in  the 
salt-marsh.  On  discovering  my  mistake  I  shut  the 
door  and  concealed  the  papers  in  the  chimney.  I 
had  forgotten  that  he  might  see  me  do  this 
through  that  crack  by  the  hinges,  but  when  I 
went  out  again  to  show  him  his  way  and  so  get 
rid  of  him,  my  eye  caught  the  gap,  and  I  at  once 
realised  that  he  had  seen  my  action,  and  that  it 


52  UNCLE   EERNAC. 

must  have  aroused  his  curiosity  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  it  would  be  quite  certain  that  he  would 
think  and  speak  of  it.  I  called  him  back  into  the 
hut,  therefore,  in  order  that  I  might  have  time 
to  consider  what  I  had  best  do  with  him." 

"Sapristi!  a  couple  of  cuts  of  that  wood-axe, 
and  a  bed  in  the  softest  corner  of  the  marsh,  would 
have  settled  the  business  at  once,"  said  the  fellow 
by  my  side. 

"  Quite  true,  my  good  Toussac;  but  it  is  not 
usual  to  lead  off  with  your  ace  of  trumps.  A  little 
delicacy — a  little  finesse " 

"  Let  us  hear  what  you  did  then?  " 

"  It  was  my  first  object  to  learn  whether  this 
man  Laval " 

"  What  did  you  say  his  name  was?  "  cried  the 
thin  man. 

"  His  name,  according  to  his  account,  is  Laval. 
My  first  object  then  was  to  find  out  whether  he 
had  in  truth  seen  me  conceal  the  papers  or  not. 
It  was  an  important  question  for  us,  and,  as  things 
have  turned  out,  more  important  still  for  him.  I 
made  my  little  plan,  therefore.  I  waited  until  I 
saw  you  approach,  and  I  then  left  him  alone  in  the 


MEN  OF  THE   NIGHT.  53 

hut.  I  watched  through  the  window  and  saw  him 
fly  to  the  hiding-place.  We  then  entered,  and  I 
asked  you,  Toussac,  to  be  good  enough  to  lift  him 
down — and  there  he  lies." 

The  young  fellow  looked  proudly  round  for  the 
applause  of  his  comrades,  and  the  thin  man  clapped 
his  hands  softly  together,  looking  very  hard  at  me 
while  he  did  so. 

"  My  dear  Lesage,"  said  he,  "  you  have  cer- 
tainly excelled  yourself.  When  our  new  republic 
looks  for  its  minister  of  police  we  shall  know  where 
to  find  him.  I  confess  that  when,  after  guiding 
Toussac  to  this  shelter,  I  followed  you  in  and  per- 
ceived a  gentleman's  legs  projecting  from  the  fire- 
place, even  my  wits,  which  are  usually  none  of  the 
slowest,  hardly  grasped  the  situation.  Toussac, 
however,  grasped  the  legs.  He  is  always  practical, 
the  good  Toussac." 

"  Enough  words!  "  growled  the  hairy  creature 
beside  me.  "  It  is  because  we  have  talked  instead 
of  acting  that  this  Buonaparte  has  a  crown  upon 
his  head  or  a  head  upon  his  shoulders.  Let  us 
have  done  with  the  fellow  and  come  to  business." 

The  refined  features  of  Lesage  made  me  look 


54  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

towards  him  as  to  a  possible  protector,  but  his 
large  dark  eyes  were  as  cold  and  hard  as  jet  as  he 
looked  back  at  me. 

"  What  Toussac  says  is  right,"  said  he.  "  We 
imperil  our  own  safety  if  he  goes  with  our  secret." 

"  The  devil  take  our  own  safety! "  cried  Tous- 
sac. "  What  has  that  to  do  with  the  matter?  We 
imperil  the  success  of  our  plans — that  is  of  more 
importance." 

:<  The  two  things  go  together,"  replied  Lesage. 
"  There  is  no  doubt  that  Rule  13  of  our  confedera- 
tion defines  exactly  what  should  be  done  in  such 
a  case.  Any  responsibility  must  rest  with  the 
framers  of  Rule  13." 

My  heart  had  turned  cold  when  this  man  with 
his  poet's  face  supported  the  savage  at  my  side. 
But  my  hopes  were  raised  again  when  the  thin 
man,  who  had  said  little  hitherto,  though  he  had 
continued  to  stare  at  me  very  intently,  began  now 
to  show  some  signs  of  alarm  at  the  bloodthirsty 
proposals  of  his  comrades. 

"  My  dear  Lucien,"  said  he,  in  a  soothing 
voice,  laying  his  hand  upon  the  young  man's  arm, 
"  we  philosophers  and  reasoners  must  have  a  re- 


MEN   OF   THE   NIGHT.  55 

spect  for  human  life.  The  tabernacle  is  not  to  be 
lightly  violated.  We  have  frequently  agreed  that 
if  it  were  not  for  the  excesses  of  Marat " 

"  I  have  every  respect  for  your  opinion, 
Charles/'  the  other  interrupted.  "  You  will  allow 
that  I  have  always  been  a  willing  and  obedient 
disciple.  But  I  again  say  that  our  personal  safety 
is  involved,  and  that,  as  far  as  I  see,  there  is  no 
middle  course.  No  one  could  be  more  averse  from 
cruelty  than  I  am,  but  you  were  present  with  me 
some  months  ago  when  Toussac  silenced  the  man 
from  Bow  Street,  and  certainly  it  was  done  with 
such  dexterity  that  the  process  was  probably  more 
painful  to  the  spectators  than  to  the  victim.  He 
could  not  have  been  aware  of  the  horrible  sound 
which  announced  his  own  dissolution.  If  you  and 
I  had  constancy  enough  to  endure  this — and  if  I 
remember  right  it  was  chiefly  at  your  instigation 
that  the  deed  was  done — then  surely  on  this  more 
vital  occasion " 

"  No,  no,  Toussac,  stop! "  cried  the  thin  man, 
his  voice  rising  from  its  soft  tones  to  a  perfect 
scream,  as  the  giant's  hairy  hand  gripped  me  by 
the  chin  once  more.  "  I  appeal  to  you,  Lucien, 


56  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

upon  practical  as  well  as  upon  moral  grounds,  not 
to  let  this  deed  be  done.  Consider,  that  if  things 
should  go  against  us  this  will  cut  us  oft*  from  all 
hopes  of  mercy.  Consider  also " 

This  argument  seemed  for  a  moment  to  stagger 
the  younger  man,  whose  olive  complexion  had 
turned  a  shade  greyer. 

"  There  will  be  no  hope  for  us  in  any  case, 
Charles,"  said  he.  "  We  have  no  choice  but  to 
obey  Rule  13." 

"  Some  latitude  is  allowed  to  us.  We  are  our- 
selves upon  the  inner  committee." 

"  But  it  takes  a  quorum  to  change  a  rule,  and 
we  have  no  powers  to  do  it."  His  pendulous  lip 
was  quivering,  but  there  was  no  softening  in  his 
eyes.  Slowly  under  the  pressure  of  those  cruel 
fingers  my  chin  began  to  sweep  round  to  my 
shoulder,  and  I  commended  my  soul  to  the  Virgin 
and  to  Saint  Ignatius,  who  has  always  been  the 
especial  patron  of  my  family.  But  this  man 
Charles,  who  had  already  befriended  me,  darted 
forwards  and  began  to  tear  at  Toussac's  hands  with 
a  vehemence  which  was  very  different  from  his 
former  philosophic  calm. 


MEN  OF  THE   NIGHT. 


57 


"You  shall  not  kill  him!"  he  cried  angrily. 
"  Who  are  you,  to  set  your  wills  up  against  mine? 
Let  him  go,  Toussac!  Take  your  thumb  from  his 
chin!  I  won't  have  it  done,  I  tell  you! "  Then, 
as  he  saw  by  the  inflexible  faces  of  his  companions 
that  blustering  would  not  help  him,  he  turned  sud- 
denly to  tones  of  entreaty.  "  See,  now!  I'll  make 
you  a  promise!  "  said  he.  "  Listen  to  me,  Lucien! 
Let  me  examine  him!  If  he  is  a  police  spy  he  shall 
die!  You  may  have  him  then,  Toussac.  But  if  he 
is  only  a  harmless  traveller,  who  has  blundered  in 
here  by  an  evil  chance,  and  who  has  been  led  by  a 
foolish  curiosity  to  inquire  into  our  business,  then 
you  will  leave  him  to  me." 

You  will  observe  that  from  the  beginning  of 
this  affair  I  had  never  once  opened  my  mouth,  nor 
said  a  word  in  my  defence,  which  made  me  might- 
ily pleased  with  myself  afterwards,  though  my  si- 
lence came  rather  from  pride  than  from  courage. 
To  lose  life  and  self-respect  together  was  more 
than  I  could  face.  But  now,  at  this  appeal  from 
my  advocate,  I  turned  my  eyes  from  the  monster 
who  held  me  to  the  other  who  condemned  me. 
The  brutality  of  the  one  alarmed  me  less  than  the 


58  UNCLE   BERN  AC. 

self-interested  attitude  of  the  other,  for  a  man  is 
never  so  dangerous  as  when  he  is  afraid,  and  of  all 
judges  the  judge  who  has  cause  to  fear  you  is  the 
most  inflexible. 

My  life  depended  upon  the  answer  which 
was  to  come  to  the  appeal  of  my  champion.  Le- 
sage  tapped  his  fingers  upon  his  teeth,  and 
smiled  indulgently  at  the  earnestness  of  his  com- 
panion. 

"Rule  13!  Rule  13!"  he  kept  repeating,  in 
that  exasperating  voice  of  his. 

"  I  will  take  all  responsibility." 

"I'll  tell  you  what,  mister,"  said  Toussac,  in 
his  savage  voice.  "  There's  another  rule  besides 
Rule  13,  and  that's  the  one  that  says  that  if  any 
man  shelters  an  offender  he  shall  be  treated  as  if 
he  was  himself  guilty  of  the  offence." 

This  attack  did  not  shake  the  serenity  of  my 
champion  in  the  least. 

"  You  are  an  excellent  man  of  action,  Toussac/' 
said  he,  calmly;  "but  when  it  comes  to  choosing 
the  right  course,  you  must  leave  it  to  wiser  heads 
than  your  own." 

His  air  of  tranquil  superiority  seemed  to  daunt 


MEN   OF   THE   NIGHT. 


59 


the  fierce  creature  who  held  me.  He  shrugged  his 
huge  shoulders  in  silent  dissent. 

"  As  to  you,  Lucien,"  my  friend  continued,  "  I 
am  surprised,  considering  the  position  to  which 
you  aspire  in  my  family,  that  you  should  for  an  in- 
stant stand  in  the  way  of  any  wish  which  I  may 
express.  If  you  have  grasped  the  true  principles 
of  liberty,  and  if  you  are  privileged  to  be  one  of 
the  small  band  who  have  never  despaired  of  the 
republic,  to  whom  is  it  that  you  owe  it?  " 

"  Yes,  yes,  Charles;  I  acknowledge  what  you 
say,"  the  young  man  answered,  with  much  agita- 
tion. "  I  am  sure  that  I  should  be  the  last  to  oppose 
any  wish  which  you  might  express,  but  in  this  case 
I  fear  lest  your  tenderness  of  heart  may  be  leading 
you  astray.  By  all  means,  ask  him  any  questions 
that  you  like;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  there  can  be 
only  one  end  to  the  matter." 

So  I  thought,  also;  for,  with  the  full  secret  of 
these  desperate  men  in  my  possession,  what  hope 
was  there  that  they  would  ever  suffer  me  to  leave 
the  hut  alive?  And  yet  so  sweet  is  human  life, 
and  so  dear  a  respite,  be  it  ever  so  short  a  one, 
that  when  that  murderous  hand  was  taken  from 


60  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

my  chin  I  heard  a  sudden  chiming  of  little  bells, 
and  the  lamp  blazed  up  into  a  strange  fantastic 
blur.  It  was  but  for  a  moment,  and  then  my  mind 
was  clear  again,  and  I  was  looking  up  at  the 
strange  gaunt  face  of  my  examiner. 

"  Whence  have  you  come?  "  he  asked. 

"  From  England." 

"  But  you  are  French?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  When  did  you  arrive?  " 

"  To-night." 

"  How?  " 

"  In  a  lugger  from  Dover." 

"  The  fellow  is  speaking  the  truth,"  growled 
Toussac.  "  Yes,  I'll  say  that  for  him,  that  he  is 
speaking  the  truth.  We  saw  the  lugger,  and 
someone  was  landed  from  it  just  after  the  boat  that 
brought  me  over  pushed  off." 

I  remembered  that  boat,  which  had  been  the 
first  thing  which  I  had  seen  upon  the  coast  of 
France.  How  little  I  had  thought  what  it  would 
mean  to  me. 

And  now  my  advocate  began  asking  questions 
— vague,  useless  questions,  in  a  slow,  hesitating 


MEN  OF  THE  NIGHT.  6l 

fashion,  which  set  Toussac  grumbling.  This 
cross-examination  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  useless 
farce;  and  yet  there  was  a  certain  eagerness  and 
intensity  in  my  questioner's  manner  which  gave 
me  the  assurance  that  he  had  some  end  in  view. 
Was  it  merely  that  he  wished  to  gain  time?  Time 
for  what?  And  then,  suddenly,  with  that  quick 
perception  which  comes  upon  those  whose  nerves 
are  strained  by  an  extremity  of  danger,  I  became 
convinced  that  he  really  was  awaiting  something — 
that  he  was  tense  with  expectation.  I  read  it  upon 
his  drawn  face,  upon  his  sidelong  head  with  his 
ear  scooped  into  his  hand,  above  all,  in  his  twitch- 
ing, restless  eyes.  He  expected  an  interruption, 
and  he  was  talking,  talking,  talking,  in  order  to 
gain  time  for  it.  I  was  as  sure  of  it  as  if  he  had 
whispered  his  secret  in  my  ear,  and  down  in  my 
numb,  cold  heart  a  warm  little  spring  of  hope  be- 
gan to  bubble  and  run. 

But  Toussac  had  chafed  at  all  this  word-fen- 
cing, and  now  with  an  oath  he  broke  in  upon  our 
dialogue. 

"  I  have  had  enough  of  this,"  he  cried.  "  It  is 
not  for  child's  play  of  this  sort  that  I  risked  my 


62  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

head  in  coming  over  here.  Have  we  nothing  bet- 
ter to  talk  about  than  this  fellow?  Do  you  sup- 
pose I  came  from  London  to  listen  to  your  fine 
phrases?  Have  done  with  it,  I  say,  and  get  to 
business." 

"  Very  good,"  said  my  champion.  "  There's 
an  excellent  little  cupboard  here  which  makes  as 
fine  a  prison  as  one  could  wish  for.  Let  us  put 
him  in  here,  and  pass  on  to  business.  We  can  deal 
with  him  when  we  have  finished." 

"  And  have  him  overhear  all  that  we  say,"  said 
Lesage. 

"  I  don't  know  what  the  devil  has  come  over 
you,"  cried  Toussac,  turning  suspicious  eyes  upon 
my  protector.  "  I  never  knew  you  squeamish  be- 
fore, and  certainly  you  were  not  backward  in  the 
affair  of  the  man  from  Bow  Street.  This  fellow 
has  our  secret,  and  he  must  either  die,  or  we  shall 
see  him  at  our  trial.  What  is  the  sense  of  arrang- 
ing a  plot,  and  then  at  the  last  moment  turning  a 
man  loose  who  will  ruin  us  all?  Let  us  snap  his 
neck  and  have  done  with  it." 

The  great  hairy  hands  were  stretched  towards 
me  again,  but  Lesage  had  sprung  suddenly  to  his 


MEN  OF   THE   NIGHT.  63 

feet.  His  face  had  turned  very  white,  and  he 
stood  listening  with  his  forefinger  up  and  his  head 
slanted.  It  was  a  long,  thin,  delicate  hand,  and  it 
was  quivering  like  a  leaf  in  the  wind. 

"  I  heard  something,"  he  whispered. 

"  And  I,"  said  the  older  man. 

"  What  was  it?  " 

"Silence.     Listen!" 

For  a  minute  or  more  we  all  stayed  with  strain- 
ing ears  while  the  wind  still  whimpered  in  the 
chimney  or  rattled  the  crazy  window. 

"  It  was  nothing,"  said  Lesage  at  last,  with  a 
nervous  laugh.  "  The  storm  makes  curious 
sounds  sometimes." 

"  I  heard  nothing,"  said  Toussac. 

"Hush!"  cried  the  other.  "There  it  is 
again!  " 

A  clear  rising  cry  floated  high  above  the  wail- 
ing of  the  storm;  a  wild,  musical  cry,  beginning 
on  a  low  note,  and  thrilling  swiftly  up  to  a  keen, 
sharp-edged  howl. 

"A  hound!" 

"  They  are  following  us!  " 

Lesage  dashed  to  the  fire-place,  and  I  saw  him 


64  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

thrust  his  papers  into  the  blaze  and  grind  them 
down  with  his  heel. 

Toussac   seized   the   wood-axe   which   leaned 
against  the  wall.     The  thin  man  dragged  the  pile 
of  decayed  netting  from  the  corner,  and  opened  a 
small  wooden  screen,  which  shut  off  a  low  recess. 
"  In  here,"  he  whispered,  "  quick!  " 
And  then,  as  I  scrambled  into  my  refuge,  I 
heard  him  say  to  the  others  that  I  would  be  safe 
there,  and  that  they  could  lay  their  hands  upon 
me  when  they  wished. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    LAW. 

THE  cupboard — for  it  was  little  more — into 
which  I  had  been  hurried  was  low  and  narrow,  and 
I  felt  in  the  darkness  that  it  was  heaped  with  pe- 
culiar round  wickerwork  baskets,  the  nature  of 
which  I  could  by  no  means  imagine,  although  I 
discovered  afterwards  that  they  were  lobster  traps. 
The  only  light  which  entered  was  through  the 
cracks  of  the  old  broken  door,  but  these  were  so 
wide  and  numerous  that  I  could  see  the  whole  of 
the  room  which  I  had  just  quitted.  Sick  and  faint, 
with  the  shadow  of  death  still  clouding  my  wits, 
I  was  none  the  less  fascinated  by  the  scene  which 
lay  before  me. 

My  thin  friend,  with  the  same  prim  composure 
upon  his  emaciated  face,  had  seated  himself  again 
upon  the  box.  With  his  hands  clasped  round  one 

of  his  knees  he  was  rocking  slowly  backwards  and 

65 


66  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

forwards,  and  I  noticed,  in  the  lamplight,  that  his 
jaw  muscles  were  contracting  rhythmically,  like 
the  gills  of  a  fish.  Beside  him  stood  Lesage,  his 
white  face  glistening  with  moisture,  and  his  loose 
lip  quivering  with  fear.  Every  now  and  then  he 
would  make  a  vigorous  attempt  to  compose  his 
features,  but  after  each  rally  a  fresh  wave  of  terror 
would  sweep  everything  before  it,  and  set  him 
shaking  once  more.  As  to  Toussac,  he  stood  be- 
fore the  fire,  a  magnificent  figure,  with  the  axe 
held  down  by  his  leg,  and  his  head  thrown  back 
in  defiance,  so  that  his  great  black  beard  bristled 
straight  out  in  front  of  him.  He  said  not  a  word, 
but  every  fibre  of  his  body  was  braced  for  a  strug- 
gle. Then,  as  the  howl  of  the  hound  rose  louder 
and  clearer  from  the  marsh  outside,  he  ran  forward 
and  threw  open  the  door. 

"  No,  no,  keep  the  dog  out!  "  cried  Lesage  in 
an  agony  of  apprehension. 

"  You  fool,  our  only  chance  is  to  kill  it." 

"  But  it  is  in  leash." 

"  If  it  is  in  leash  nothing  can  save  us.  But  if, 
as  I  think,  it  is  running  free,  then  we  may  escape 
yet." 


THE    LAW.  67 

Lesage  cowered  up  against  the  table,  with  his 
agonised  eyes  fixed  upon  the  blue-black  square  of 
the  door.  The  man  who  had  befriended  me  still 
swayed  his  body  about  with  a  singular  half-smile 
upon  his  face.  His  skinny  hand  was  twitching  at 
the  frill  of  his  shirt,  and  I  conjectured  that  he 
held  some  weapon  concealed  there.  Toussac 
stood  between  them  and  the  open  door,  and,  much 
as  I  feared  and  loathed  him,  I  could  not  take  my 
eyes  from  his  gallant  figure.  As  to  myself,  I  was 
so  much  occupied  by  the  singular  drama  before 
me,  and  by  the  impending  fate  of  those  three  men 
of  the  cottage,  that  all  thought  of  my  own  fortunes 
had  passed  completely  out  of  my  mind.  On  this 
mean  stage  a  terrible,  all-absorbing  drama  was 
being  played,  and  I,  crouching  in  a  squalid  recess, 
was  to  be  the  sole  spectator  of  it.  I  could  but  hold 
my  breath,  and  wait  and  watch. 

And  suddenly  I  became  conscious  that  they 
could  all  three  see  something  which  was  invisible 
to  me.  I  read  it  from  their  tense  faces  and  their 
staring  eyes.  Toussac  swung  his  axe  over  his 
shoulder  and  poised  himself  for  a  blow.  Lesage 
cowered  away  and  put  one  hand  between  his  eyes 


68  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

and  the  open  door.  The  other  ceased  swinging 
his  spindle  legs  and  sat  like  a  little  brown  image 
upon  the  edge  of  his  box.  There  was  a  moist  pat- 
tering of  feet,  a  yellow  streak  shot  through  the 
doorway,  and  Toussac  lashed  at  it  as  I  have  seen 
an  English  cricketer  strike  at  a  ball.  His  aim  was 
true,  for  he  buried  the  head  of  the  hatchet  in  the 
creature's  throat,  but  the  force  of  his  blow  shat- 
tered his  weapon,  and  the  weight  of  the  hound 
carried  him  backwards  on  to  the  floor.  Over  they 
rolled  and  over,  the  hairy  man  and  the  hairy  dog, 
growling  and  worrying  in  a  bestial  combat.  He 
was  fu  bling  at  the  animal's  throat,  and  I  could 
not  see  what  he  was  doing,  until  it  gave  a  sudden 
sharp  yelp  of  pain,  and  there  was  a  rending  sound 
like  the  tearing  of  canvas.  The  man  staggered  up 
with  his  hands  dripping,  and  the  tawny  mass  with 
the  blotch  of  crimson  lay  motionless  upon  the 
floor. 

"  Now!  "  cried  Toussac,  in  a  voice  of  thunder, 
"  now!  "  and  he  rushed  from  the  hut. 

Lesage  had  shrunk  away  into  the  corner  in 
a  frenzy  of  fear  whilst  Toussac  had  been  killing 
the  hound,  but  now  he  raised  his  agonised  face, 


THE    LAW.  69 

which  was  as  wet  as  if  he  had  dipped  it  into  a 
basin. 

"  Yes,  yes,"  he  cried;  "  we  must  fly,  Charles. 
The  hound  has  left  the  police  behind,  and  we  may 
still  escape." 

But  the  other,  with  the  same  imperturbable 
face,  motionless  save  for  the  rhythm  of  his  jaw 
muscles,  walked  quietly  over  and  closed  the  door 
upon  the  inside. 

"  I  think,  friend  Lucien,"  said  he  in  his 
quiet  voice,  "  that  you  had  best  stay  where  you 


are." 


Lesage  looked  at  him  with  amazeme-  grad- 
ually replacing  terror  upon  his  pallid  features. 

"  But  you  do  not  understand,  Charles,"  he 
cried. 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  think  I  do,"  said  the  other,  smiling. 

"  They  may  be  here  in  a  few  minutes.  The 
hound  has  slipped  its  leash,  you  see,  and  has  left 
them  behind  in  the  marsh;  but  they  are  sure  to 
come  here,  for  there  is  no  other  cottage  but  this." 

"  They  are  sure  to  come  here." 

"  Well,  then,  let  us  fly.  In  the  darkness  we 
may  yet  escape." 


70  UNCLE   BERNAC.   • 

"  No;  we  shall  stay  where  we  are." 

"  Madman,  you  may  sacrifice  your  own  life, 
but  not  mine.  Stay  if  you  wish,  but  for  my  part 
I  am  going." 

He  ran  towards  the  door  with  a  foolish,  help- 
less flapping  of  his  hands,  but  the  other  sprang 
in  front  of  him  with  so  determined  a  gesture  of 
authority  that  the  younger  man  staggered  back 
from  it  as  from  a  blow. 

"  You  fool!  "  said  his  companion.  "  You  poor, 
miserable  dupe!" 

Lesage's  mouth  opened,  and  he  stood  staring 
with  his  knees  bent  and  his  spread-fingered  hands 
up,  the  most  hideous  picture  of  fear  that  I  have 
ever  seen. 

"  You,  Charles,  you!  "  he  stammered,  hawking 
up  each  word. 

"  Yes,  me,"  said  the  other,  smiling  grimly. 

"  A  police  agent  all  the  time!  You  who  were 
the  very  soul  of  our  society!  You  who  were  in 
our  inmost  council!  You  who  led  us  on!  Oh, 
Charles,  you  have  not  the  heart.  I  think  I  hear 
them  coming,  Charles.  Let  me  pass;  I  beg-  and 
implore  you  to  let  me  pass." 


THE   LAW.  71 

The  granite  face  shook  slowly  from  side  to 
side. 

"  But  why  me?    Why  not  Toussac?  " 

"  If  the  dog  had  crippled  Toussac,  why  then  I 
might  have  had  you  both.  But  friend  Toussac  is 
rather  vigorous  for  a  thin  little  fellow  like  me. 
No,  no,  my  good  Lucien,  you  are  destined  to  be 
the  trophy  of  my  bow  and  my  spear,  and  you  must 
reconcile  yourself  to  the  fact." 

Lesage  slapped  his  forehead  as  if  to  assure 
himself  that  he  was  not  dreaming. 

"  A  police  agent,"  he  repeated,  "  Charles  a  po- 
lice agent! " 

"  I  thought  it  would  surprise  you." 

"  But  you  were  the  most  republican  of  us  all. 
We  were  none  of  us  advanced  enough  for  you. 
How  often  have  we  gathered  round  you,  Charles, 
to  listen  to  your  philosophy.  And  there  is  Sibylle, 
too!  Don't  tell  me  that  Sibylle  was  a  police  spy 
also.  But  you  are  joking,  Charles.  Say  that  you 
are  joking! " 

The  man  relaxed  his  grim  features,  and  his 
eyes  puckered  with  amusement. 

"  Your  astonishment  is  very  flattering,"  said 

6 


72  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

he.  "  I  confess  that  I  thought  that  I  played  my 
part  rather  cleverly.  It  is  not  my  fault  that  these 
bunglers  unleashed  their  hound,  but  at  least  I  shall 
have  the  credit  of  having  made  a  single-handed 
capture  of  one  very  desperate  and  dangerous  con- 
spirator." He  smiled  drily  at  this  description  of 
his  prisoner.  "  The  Emperor  knows  how  to  re- 
ward his  friends,"  he  added,  "  and  also  how  to 
punish  his  enemies." 

All  this  time  he  had  held  his  hand  in  his 
bosom,  and  now  he  drew  it  out  so  far  as  to  show 
the  brass  gleam  of  a  pistol  butt. 

"  It  is  no  use,"  said  he,  in  answer  to  some 
look  in  the  other's  eye.  "  You  stay  in  the  hut, 
alive  or  dead." 

Lesage  put  his  hands  to  his  face  and  began  to 
cry  with  loud,  helpless  sobbings. 

"  Why,  you  have  been  worse  than  any  of  us, 
Charles,"  he  moaned.  "  It  was  you  who  told 
Toussac  to  kill  the  man  from  Bow  Street,  and 
it  was  you  also  who  set  fire  to  the  house  in  the 
Rue  Basse  de  la  Rampart.  And  now  you  turn 
onus!" 

"  I  did  that  because  I  wished  to  be  the  one 


THE   LAW. 


73 


to  throw  light  upon  it  all — and  at  the  proper 
moment/' 

"  That  is  very  fine,  Charles,  but  what  will  be 
thought  about  that  when  I  make  it  all  public  in 
my  own  defence.  How  can  you  explain  all  that 
to  your  Emperor.  There  is  still  time  to  prevent 
my  telling  all  that  I  know  about  you." 

"  Well,  really,  I  think  that  you  are  right,  my 
friend,"  said  the  other,  drawing  out  his  pistol  and 
cocking  it.  "  Perhaps  I  did  go  a  little  beyond  my 
instructions  in  one  or  two  points,  and,  as  you 
very  properly  remark,  there  is  still  time  to  set  it 
right.  It  is  a  matter  of  detail  whether  I  give  you 
up  living  or  give  you  up  dead,  and  I  think  that, 
on  the  whole,  it  had  better  be  dead." 

It  had  been  horrible  to  see  Toussac  tear  the 
throat  out  of  the  hound,  but  it  had  not  made  my 
flesh  creep  as  it  crept  now.  Pity  was  mingled 
with  my  disgust  for  this  unfortunate  young  man, 
who  had  been  fitted  by  Nature  for  the  life  of  a 
retired  student,  or  of  a  dreaming  poet,  but  who 
had  been  dragged  by  stronger  wills  than  his  own 
into  a  part  which  no  child  could  be  more  incapable 
of  playing.  I  forgave  him  the  trick  by  which  he 


74 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 


had  caught  me,  and  the  selfish  fears  to  which  he 
had  been  willing  to  sacrifice  me.  He  had  flung 
himself  down  upon  the  ground  and  floundered 
about  in  a  convulsion  of  terror,  whilst  his  terrible 
little  companion,  with  his  cynical  smile,  stood  over 
him  with  his  pistol  in  his  hand.  He  played  with 
the  helpless,  panting  coward,  as  a  cat  might  with 
a  mouse;  but  I  read  in  his  inexorable  eyes  that 
it  was  no  jest,  and  his  finger  seemed  to  be  already 
tightening  upon  his  trigger.  Full  of  horror  at 
so  cold-blooded  a  murder,  I  pushed  open  my 
crazy  cupboard,  and  had  rushed  out  to  plead  for 
the  victim  when  there  came  a  buzz  of  voices  and  a 
clanking  of  steel  from  without.  With  a  stentorian 
shout  of  "  In  the  name  of  the  Emperor! "  a  single 
violent  wrench  tore  the  door  of  the  hut  from  its 
hinges. 

It  was  still  blowing  hard,  and  through  the 
open  doorway  I  could  see  a  thick  cluster  of 
mounted  men,  with  plumes  slanted  and  mantles 
flapping,  the  rain  shining  upon  their  shoulders. 
At  the  side  the  light  from  the  hut  struck  upon  the 
heads  of  two  beautiful  horses,  and  upon  the  heavy 
red-toupeed  busbies  of  the  hussars  who  stood  at 


THE   LAW. 


75 


their  heads.  In  the  doorway  stood  another  hussar 
— a  man  of  high  rank,  as  could  be  seen  from 
the  richness  of  his  dress  and  the  distinction  of  his 
bearing.  He  was  booted  to  the  knees,  with  a  uni- 
form of  light  blue  and  silver,  which  his  tall,  slim, 
light-cavalry  figure  suited  to  a  marvel.  I  could 
not  but  admire  the  way  in  which  he  carried  him- 
self, for  he  never  deigned  to  draw  the  sword  which 
shone  at  his  side,  but  he  stood  in  the  doorway 
glancing  round  the  blood-bespattered  hut,  and 
staring  at  its  occupants  with  a  very  cool  and  alert 
expression.  He  had  a  handsome  face,  pale  and 
clear-cut,  with  a  bristling  moustache,  which  cut 
across  the  brass  chin-chain  of  his  busby. 

"  Well/'  said  he,  "  well?  " 

The  older  man  had  put  his  pistol  back  into  the 
breast  of  his  brown  coat. 

"  This  is  Lucien   Lesage,"   said  he. 

The  hussar  looked  with  disgust  at  the  pros- 
trate figure  upon  the  floor. 

"A  pretty  conspirator!"  said  he.  "Get  up, 
you  grovelling  hound!  Here,  Gerard,  take  charge 
of  him  and  bring  him  into  camp." 

A  younger  officer  with  two  troopers  at  his 


76 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 


heels  came  clanking  into  the  hut,  and  the  wretched 
creature,  half  swooning,  was  dragged  out  into  the 
darkness. 

"  Where  is  the  other — the  man  called  Tous- 
sac? " 

"  He  killed  the  hound  and  escaped.  Lesage 
would  have  got  away  also  had  I  not  prevented 
him.  If  you  had  kept  the  dog  in  leash  we  should 
have  had  them  both,  but  as  it  is,  Colonel  Lasalle, 
I  think  that  you  may  congratulate  me."  He  held 
out  his  hand  as  he  spoke,  but  the  other  turned 
abruptly  on  his  heel. 

"  You  hear  that,  General  Savary?  "  said  he, 
looking  out  of  the  door.  "  Toussac  has  escaped/' 

A  tall,  dark  young  man  appeared  within  the 
circle  of  light  cast  by  the  lamp.  The  agitation  of 
his  handsome,  swarthy  face  showed  the  effect 
which  the  news  had  upon  him. 

"  Where  is  he  then?  " 

"  It  is  a  quarter  of  an  hour  since  he  got 
away." 

"  But  he  is  the  only  dangerous  man  of  them 
all.  The  Emperor  will  be  furious.  In  which  di- 
rection did  he  fly?  " 


THE   LAW.  77 

"  It  must  have  been  inland/* 

"  But  who  is  this? "  asked  General  Savary, 
pointing  at  me.  "  I  understood  from  your  in- 
formation that  there  were  only  two  besides  your- 
self, Monsieur ." 

"  I  had  rather  no  names  were  mentioned,"  said 
the  other  abruptly. 

"  I  can  well  understand  that,"  General  Savary 
answered  with  a  sneer. 

"  I  would  have  told  you  that  the  cottage  was 
the  rendezvous,  but  it  was  not  decided  upon  until 
the  last  moment.  I  gave  you  the  means  of  track- 
ing Toussac,  but  you  let  the  hound  slip.  I  cer- 
tainly think  that  you  will  have  to  answer  to  the 
Emperor  for  the  way  in  which  you  have  managed 
the  business." 

"  That,  sir,  is  our  affair,"  said  General  Savary 
sternly.  "  In  the  meantime  you  have  not  told 
us  who  this  person  is." 

It  seemed  useless  for  me  to  conceal  my  iden- 
tity, since  I  had  a  letter  in  my  pocket  which  would 
reveal  it. 

"  My  name  is  Louis  de  Laval,"  said  I  proudly. 

I  may  confess  that  I  think  we  had  exagger- 


^8  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

ated  our  own  importance  over  in  England.  We 
had  thought  that  all  France  was  wondering 
whether  we  should  return,  whereas  in  the  quick 
march  of  events  France  had  really  almost  forgot- 
ten our  existence.  This  young  General  Savary 
was  not  in  the  least  impressed  by  rny  aristocratic 
name,  but  he  jotted  it  down  in  his  notebook. 

"  Monsieur  de  Laval  has  nothing  whatever  to 
do  with  the  matter,"  said  the  spy.  "  He  has 
blundered  into  it  entirely  by  chance,  and  I  will 
answer  for  his  safe  keeping  in  case  he  should  be 
wanted." 

"  He  will  certainly  be  wanted,"  said  General 
Savary.  "  In  the  meantime,  I  need  every  trooper 
that  I  have  for  the  chase,  so,  if  you  make  yourself 
personally  responsible,  and  bring  him  to  the  camp 
when  needed,  I  see  no  objection  to  his  remaining 
in  your  keeping.  I  shall  send  to  you  if  I  require 
him." 

"  He  will  be  at  the  Emperor's  orders." 

"  Are  there  any  papers  in  the  cottage?  " 

"  They  have  been  burned." 

"That  is  unfortunate." 

"  But  I  have  duplicates." 


THE   LAW.  jg 

"  Excellent!  Come,  Lasalle,  every  minute 
counts  and  there  is  nothing  to  be  done  here.  Let 
the  men  scatter,  and  we  may  still  ride  him 
down." 

The  two  tall  soldiers  clanked  out  of  the  cot- 
tage without  taking  any  further  notice  of  my  com- 
panion, and  I  heard  the  shafp,  stern  order  and 
the  jingling  of  metal  as  the  troopers  sprang  back 
into  their  saddles  once  more.  An  instant  later 
they  were  off,  and  I  listened  to  the  dull  beat  of 
their  hoofs  dying  rapidly  into  a  confused  mur- 
mur. My  little  snuff-coloured  champion  went  to 
the  door  of  the  hut  and  peered  after  them  through 
the  darkness.  Then  he  came  back  and  looked 
me  up  and  down,  with  his  usual  dry,  sardonic 
smile. 

"  Well,  young  man,"  said  he,  "  we  have  played 
some  pretty  tableaux  vivants  for  your  amusement, 
and  you  can  thank  me  for  that  nice  seat  in  the 
front  row  of  the  parterre." 

"  I  am  under  a  very  deep  obligation  to  you, 
sir,"  I  answered,  struggling  between  my  gratitude 
and  my  aversion.  "  I  hardly  know  how  to  thank 
you." 


80  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

He  looked  at  me  with  a  singular  expression 
in  his  ironical  eyes. 

'  You  will  have  the  opportunity  for  thanking 
me  later,"  said  he.  "  In  the  meantime,  as  you 
say  that  you  are  a  stranger  upon  our  coast,  and 
as  I  am  responsible  for  your  safe  keeping,  you 
cannot  do  better  than  follow  me,  and  I  will  take 
you  to  a  place  where  you  may  sleep  in  safety." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   SECRET    PASSAGE. 

THE  fire  had  already  smouldered  down,  and  my 
companion  blew  out  the  lamp,  so  that  we  had  not 
taken  ten  paces  before  we  had  lost  sight  of  the 
ill-omened  cottage,  in  which  I  had  received  so 
singular  a  welcome  upon  my  home-coming.  The 
wind  had  softened  down,  but  a  fine  rain,  cold  and 
clammy,  came  drifting  up  from  the  sea.  Had  I 
been  left  to  myself  I  should  have  found  myself  as 
much  at  a  loss  as  I  had  been  when  I  first  landed; 
but  my  companion  walked  with  a  brisk  and  as- 
sured step,  so  that  it  was  evident  that  he  guided 
himself  by  landmarks  which  were  invisible  to  me. 
For  my  part,  wet  and  miserable,  with  my  forlorn 
bundle  under  my  arm,  and  my  nerves  all  jangled 
by  my  terrible  experiences,  I  trudged  in  silence 
by  his  side,  turning  over  in  my  mind  all  that  had 
occurred  to  me. 

81 


82  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

Young  as  I  was,  I  had  heard  much  political 
discussion  amongst  my  elders  in  England,  and 
the  state  of  affairs  in  France  was  perfectly  famil- 
iar to  me.  I  was  aware  that  the  recent  elevation 
of  Buonaparte  to  the  throne  had  enraged  the  small 
but  formidable  section  of  Jacobins  and  extreme 
Republicans,  who  saw  that  all  their  efforts  to 
abolish  a  kingdom  had  only  ended  in  transform- 
ing it  into  an  empire.  It  was,  indeed,  a  pitiable 
result  of  their  frenzied  strivings  that  a  crown  with 
eight  fleurs-de-lis  should  be  changed  into  a  higher 
crown  surmounted  by  a  cross  and  ball.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  followers  of  the  Bourbons,  in 
whose  company  I  had  spent  my  youth,  were  equal- 
ly disappointed  at  the  manner  in  which  the  mass 
of  the  French  people  hailed  this  final  step  in  the 
return  from  chaos  to  order.  Contradictory  as 
were  their  motives,  the  more  violent  spirits  of  both 
parties  were  united  in  their  hatred  to  Napoleon, 
and  in  their  fierce  determination  to  get  rid  of 
him  by  any  means.  Hence  a  series  of  conspiracies, 
most  of  them  with  their  base  in  England;  and 
hence  also  a  large  use  of  spies  and  informers  upon 
the  part  of  Fouche  and  of  Savary,  upon  whom 


THE   SECRET   PASSAGE.  83 

the  responsibility  of  the  safety  of  the  Emperor 
lay.  A  strange  chance  had  landed  me  upon  the 
French  coast  at  the  very  same  time  as  a  murder- 
ous conspirator,  and  had  afterwards  enabled  me 
to  see  the  weapons  with  which  the  police  con- 
trived to  thwart  and  outwit  him  and  his  associ- 
ates. When  I  looked  back  upon  my  series  of  ad- 
ventures, my  wanderings  in  the  salt-marsh,  my 
entrance  into  the  cottage,  my  discovery  of  the 
papers,  my  capture  by  the  conspirators,  the  long 
period  of  suspense  with  Toussac's  dreadful  thumb 
upon  my  chin,  and  finally  the  moving  scenes  which 
I  had  witnessed — the  killing  of  the  hound,  the 
capture  of  Lesage,  and  the  arrival  of  the  soldiers 
— I  could  not  wonder  that  my  nerves  were  over- 
wrought, and  that  I  surprised  myself  in  little 
convulsive  gestures,  like  those  of  a  frightened 
child. 

The  chief  thought  which  now  filled  my  mind 
was  what  my  relations  were  with  this  dangerous 
man  who  walked  by  my  side.  His  conduct  and 
bearing  had  filled  me  with  abhorrence.  I  had  seen 
the  depth  of  cunning  with  which  he  had  duped 
and  betrayed  his  companions,  and  I  had  read  in 


84  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

his  lean  smiling  face  the  cold  deliberate  cruelty  of 
his  nature,  as  he  stood,  pistol  in  hand,  over  the 
whimpering  coward  whom  he  had  outwitted.  Yet 
I  could  not  deny  that  when,  through  my  own 
foolish  curiosity,  I  had  placed  myself  in  a  most 
hopeless  position,  it  was  he  who  had  braved  the 
wrath  of  the  formidable  Toussac  in  order  to  extri- 
cate me.  It  was  evident  also  that  he  might  have 
made  his  achievement  more  striking  by  delivering 
up  two  prisoners  instead  of  one  to  the  troopers. 
It  is  true  that  I  was  not  a  conspirator,  but  I  might 
have  found  it  difficult  to  prove  it.  So  inconsistent 
did  such  conduct  seem  in  this  little  yellow  flint- 
stone  of  a  man  that,  after  walking  a  mile  or  two  in 
silence,  I  asked  him  suddenly  what  the  meaning 
of  it  might  be. 

I  heard  a  dry  chuckle  in  the  darkness,  as  if  he 
were  amused  by  the  abruptness  and  directness  of 
my  question. 

"  You  are  a  most  amusing  person,  Monsieur — 
Monsieur — let  me  see,  what  did  you  say  your  name 
was?  " 

"  De  Laval." 

"  Ah,  quite  so,  Monsieur  de  Laval.    You  have 


THE   SECRET   PASSAGE.  8$ 

the  impetuosity  and  the  ingenuousness  of  youth. 
You  want  to  know  what  is  up  a  chimney,  you 
jump  up  the  chimney.  You  want  to  know  the 
reason  of  a  thing,  and  you  blurt  out  a  question. 
I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  living  among  people 
who  keep  their  thoughts  to  themselves,  and  I  find 
you  very  refreshing." 

"  Whatever  the  motives  of  your  conduct,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  you  saved  my  life,"  said  I.  "  I 
am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  intercession." 
It  is  the  most  difficult  thing  in  the  world  to  ex- 
press gratitude  to  a  person  who  fills  you  with  ab- 
horrence, and  I  fear  that  my  halting  speech  was 
another  instance  of  that  ingenuousness  of  which 
he  accused  me. 

"  I  can  do  without  your  thanks,"  said  he  coldly. 
"  You  are  perfectly  right  when  you  think  that  if 
it  had  suited  my  purpose  I  should  have  let  you 
perish,  and  I  am  perfectly  right  when  I  think  that 
if  it  were  not  that  you  are  under  an  obligation 
you  would  fail  to  see  my  hand  if  I  stretched  it  out 
to  you  just  as  that  overgrown  puppy  Lasalle  did. 
It  is  very  honourable,  he  thinks,  to  serve  the  Em- 
peror upon  the  field  of  battle,  and  to  risk  life  in 


86  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

his  behalf,  but  when  it  comes  to  living  amidst 
danger  as  I  have  done,  consorting  with  desperate 
men,  and  knowing  well  that  the  least  slip  would 
mean  death,  why  then  one  is  beneath  the  notice 
of  a  fine,  clean-handed  gentleman.  Why,"  he  con- 
tinued in  a  burst  of  bitter  passion,  "  I  have  dared 
more,  and  endured  more,  with  Toussac  and  a  few 
of  his  kidney  for  comrades,  than  this  Lasalle  has 
done  in  all  the  childish  cavalry  charges  that  ever 
he  undertook.  As  to  service,  all  his  Marshals  put 
together  have  not  rendered  the  Emperor  as  press- 
ing a  service  as  I  have  done.  But  I  daresay  it 
does  not  strike  you  in  that  light,  Monsieur — Mon- 


sieur  " 


"  De  Laval." 

"  Quite  so — it  is  curious  how  that  name  es- 
capes me.  I  daresay  you  take  the  same  view  as 
Colonel  Lasalle?  " 

"  It  is  not  a  question  upon  which  I  can  offer 
an  opinion,"  said  I.  "  I  only  know  that  I  owe  my 
life  to  your  intercession." 

I  do  not  know  what  reply  he  might  have  made 
to  this  evasion,  but  at  that  moment  we  heard  a 
couple  of  pistol  shots  and  a  distant  shouting  from 


THE    SECRET    PASSAGE.  87 

far  away  in  the  darkness.  We  stopped  for  a  few 
minutes,  but  all  was  silent  once  more. 

"  They  must  have  caught  sight  of  Toussac," 
said  my  companion.  "  I  am  afraid  that  he  is  too 
strong  and  too  cunning  to  be  taken  by  them.  I 
do  not  know  what  impression  he  left  upon  you, 
but  I  can  tell  you  that  you  will  go  far  to  meet  a 
more  dangerous  man." 

I  answered  that  I  would  go  far  to  avoid  meet- 
ing one,  unless  I  had  the  means  of  defending  my- 
self, and  my  companion's  dry  chuckle  showed  that 
he  appreciated  my  feelings. 

''  Yet  he  is  an  absolutely  honest  man,  which 
is  no  very  common  thing  in  these  days,"  said  he. 
"  He  is  one  of  those  who,  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolution,  embraced  it  with  the  whole  strength 
of  his  simple  nature.  He  believed  what  the  writers 
and  the  speakers  told  him,  and  he  was  convinced 
that,  after  a  little  disturbance  and  a  few  necessary 
executions,  France  was  to  become  a  heaven  upon 
earth,  the  centre  of  peace  and  comfort  and  broth- 
erly love.  A  good  many  people  got  those  fine 
ideas  into  their  heads,  but  the  heads  have  mostly 
dropped  into  the  sawdust  basket  by  this  time. 


88  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

Toussac  was  true  to  them,  and  when  instead  of 
peace  he  found  war,  instead  of  comfort  a  grinding 
poverty,  and  instead  of  equality  an  Empire,  it 
drove  him  mad.  He  became  the  fierce  creature 
you  see,  with  the  one  idea  of  devoting  his  huge 
body  and  giant's  strength  to  the  destruction  of 
those  who  had  interfered  with  his  ideal.  He  is 
fearless,  persevering,  and  implacable.  I  have  no 
doubt  at  all  that  he  will  kill  me  for  the  part  that 
I  have  played  to-night." 

It  was  in  the  calmest  voice  that  my  companion 
uttered  the  remark,  and  it  made  me  understand 
that  it  was  no  boast  when  he  said  that  there  was 
more  courage  needed  to  carry  on  his  unsavoury 
trade  than  to  play  the  part  of  a  beau  sabreur  like 
Lasalle.  He  paused  a  little,  and  then  went  on  as 
if  speaking  to  himself. 

''  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I  missed  my  chance.  I  cer- 
tainly ought  to  have  shot  him  when  he  was  strug- 
gling with  the  hound.  But  if  I  had  only  wounded 
him  he  would  have  torn  me  into  bits  like  an  over- 
boiled pullet,  so  perhaps  it  is  as  well  as  it  is." 

We  had  left  the  salt-marsh  behind  us,  and  for 
some  time  I  had  felt  the  soft  springy  turf  of  the 


THE  SECRET   PASSAGE.  89 

downland  beneath  my  feet,  and  our  path  had  risen 
and  dipped  over  the  curves  of  the  low  coast  hills. 
In  spite  of  the  darkness  my  companion  walked 
with  great  assurance,  never  hesitating  for  an  in- 
stant, and  keeping  up  a  stiff  pace  which  was  wel- 
come to  me  in  my  sodden  and  benumbed  condi- 
tion. I  had  been  so  young  when  I  left  my  native 
place  that  it  is  doubtful  whether,  even  in  daylight, 
I  should  have  recognised  the  countryside,  but  now 
in  the  darkness,  half  stupefied  by  my  adventures, 
I  could  not  form  the  least  idea  as  to  where  we  were 
or  what  we  were  making  for.  A  certain  reckless- 
ness had  taken  possession  of  me,  and  I  cared  little 
where  I  went  as  long  as  I  could  gain  the  rest  and 
shelter  of  which  I  stood  in  need. 

I  do  not  know  how  long  we  had  walked;  I 
only  know  that  I  had  dozed  and  woke  and  dozed 
again  whilst  still  automatically  keeping  pace  with 
my  comrade,  when  I  was  at  last  aroused  by  his 
coming  to  a  dead  stop.  The  rain  had  ceased, 
and  although  the  moon  was  still  obscured,  the 
heavens  had  cleared  somewhat,  and  I  could  see 
for  a  little  distance  in  every  direction.  A  huge 
white  basin  gaped  in  front  of  us,  and  I  made  out 


90  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

that  it  was  a  deserted  chalk  quarry,  with  bram- 
bles and  ferns  growing  thickly  all  round  the  edges. 
My  companion,  after  a  stealthy  glance  round  to 
make  sure  that  no  one  was  observing  us,  picked 
his  way  amongst  the  scattered  clumps  of  bushes 
until  he  reached  the  wall  of  chalk.  This  he  skirted 
for  some  distance,  squeezing  between  the  cliff  and 
the  brambles  until  he  came  at  last  to  a  spot  where 
all  further  progress  appeared  to  be  impossible. 

"  Can  you  see  a  light  behind  us?  "  asked  my 
companion. 

I  turned  round  and  looked  carefully  in  every 
direction,  but  was  unable  to  see  one. 

"  Never  mind,"  said  he.  "  You  go  first,  and  I 
will  follow." 

In  some  way  during  the  instant  that  my  back 
had  been  turned  he  had  swung  aside  or  plucked 
out  the  tangle  of  bush  which  had  barred  our  way. 
When  I  turned  there  was  a  square,  dark  opening 
in  the  white  glimmering  wall  in  front  of  us. 

"  It  is  small  at  the  entrance,  but  it  grows  larger 
further  in,"  said  he. 

I  hesitated  for  an  instant.  Whither  was  it  that 
this  strange  man  was  leading  me?  Did  he  live  in 


THE  SECRET   PASSAGE.  9! 

a  cave  like  a  wild  beast,  or  was  this  some  trap 
into  which  he  was  luring  me?  The  moon  shone 
out  at  the  instant,  and  in  its  silver  light  this  black, 
silent  porthole  looked  inexpressibly  cheerless  and 
menacing. 

"  You  have  gone  rather  far  to  turn  back,  my 

good  friend,"  said  my  companion.     "  You  must 

either  trust  me  altogether  or  not  trust  me  at  all." 

"  I  am  at  your  disposal." 

"  Pass  in  then,  and  I  shall  follow." 

I  crept  into  the  narrow  passage,  which  was  so 

low  that  I  had  to  crawl  down  it  upon  my  hands 

and  knees.     Craning  my  neck  round,  I  could  see 

the  black  angular  silhouette  of  my  companion  as 

he  came  after  me.     He  paused  at  the  entrance, 

and  then,  with  a  rustling  of  branches  and  snapping 

of  twigs,  the  faint  light  was  suddenly  shut  off  from 

outside,  and  we  were  left  in  pitchy  darkness.     I 

heard  the  scraping  of  his  knees  as  he  crawled  up 

behind  me. 

"  Go  on  until  you  come  to  a  step  down,"  said 
he.  "  We  shall  have  more  room  there,  and  we  can 
strike  a  light." 

The  ceiling  was  so  low  that  by  arching  my  back 


92 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 


I  could  easily  strike  it,  and  my  elbows  touched  the 
wall  upon  either  side.  In  those  days  I  was  slim 
and  lithe,  however,  so  that  I  found  no  difficulty  in 
making  my  way  onwards  until,  at  the  end  of  a 
hundred  paces,  or  it  may  have  been  a  hundred  and 
fifty,  I  felt  with  my  hands  that  there  was  a  dip  in 
front  of  me.  Down  this  I  clambered,  and  was 
instantly  conscious  from  the  purer  air  that  I  was 
in  some  larger  cavity.  I  heard  the  snapping  of  my 
companion's  flint,  and  the  red  glow  of  the  tinder 
paper  leaped  suddenly  into  the  clear  yellow  flame 
of  the  taper.  At  first  I  could  only  see  that  stern, 
emaciated  face,  like  some  grotesque  carving  in 
walnut  wood,  with  the  ceaseless,  fishlike  vibration 
of  the  muscles  of  his  jaw.  The  light  beat  full  upon 
it,  and  it  stood  strangely  out  with  a  dim  halo 
round  it  in  the  darkness.  Then  he  raised  the  taper 
and  swept  it  slowly  round  at  arm's  length  so  as 
to  illuminate  the  place  in  which  we  stood. 

I  found  that  we  were  in  a  subterranean  tunnel, 
which  appeared  to  extend  into  the  bowels  of  the 
earth.  It  was  so  high  that  I  could  stand  erect  with 
ease,  and  the  old  lichen-blotched  stones  which 
lined  the  walls  told  of  its  great  age.  At  the  spot 


THE  SECRET   PASSAGE. 


93 


where  we  stood  the  ceiling  had  fallen  in  and  the 
original  passage  been  blocked,  but  a  cutting  had 
been  made  from  this  point  through  the  chalk  to 
form  the  narrow  burrow  along  which  we  had  come. 
This  cutting  appeared  to  be  quite  recent,  for  a 
mound  of  debris  and  some  trenching  tools  were  still 
lying  in  the  passage.  My  companion,  taper  in 
hand,  started  off  down  the  tunnel,  and  I  followed 
at  his  heels,  stepping  over  the  great  stones  which 
had  fallen  from  the  roof  or  the  walls,  and  now 
obstructed  the  path. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  grinning  at  me  over  his  shoul- 
der, "  have  you  ever  seen  anything  like  this  in 
England?  " 

"  Never,"  I  answered. 

"  These  are  the  precautions  and  devices  which 
men  adopted  in  rough  days  long  ago.  Now  that 
rough  days  have  come  again,  they  are  very  useful 
to  those  who  know  of  such  places." 

"  Whither  does  it  lead,  then?  "  I  asked. 

"  To  this,"  said  he,  stopping  before  an  old 
wooden  door,  powerfully  clamped  with  iron.  He 
fumbled  with  the  metal-work,  keeping  himself  be- 
tween me  and  it,  so  that  I  could  not  see  what  he 


94  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

was  doing.  There  was  a  sharp  snick,  and  the  door 
revolved  slowly  upon  its  hinges.  Within  there 
was  a  steep  flight  of  time-worn  steps  leading  up- 
wards. He  motioned  me  on,  and  closed  the  door 
behind  us.  At  the  head  of  the  stair  there  was  a 
second  wooden  gate,  which  he  opened  in  a  similar 
manner. 

I  had  been  dazed  before  ever  I  came  into  the 
chalk  pit,  but  now,  at  this  succession  of  incidents, 
I  began  to  rub  my  eyes  and  ask  myself  whether 
this  was  young  Louis  de  Laval,  late  of  Ashford,  in 
Kent,  or  whether  it  was  some  dream  of  the  adven- 
tures of  a  hero  of  Pegault  Lebrun.  These  massive 
moss-grown  arches  and  mighty  iron-clamped  doors 
were,  indeed,  like  the  dim  shadowy  background 
of  a  vision;  but  the  guttering  taper,  my  sodden 
bundle,  and  all  the  sordid  details  of  my  disarranged 
toilet  assured  me  only  too  clearly  of  their  reality. 
Above  all,  the  swift,  brisk,  business-like  manner  of 
my  companion,  and  his  occasional  abrupt  remarks, 
brought  my  fancies  back  to  the  ground  once  more. 
He  held  the  door  open  for  me  now,  and  closed  it 
again  when  I  had  passed  through. 

We  found  ourselves  in  a  long  vaulted  corridor, 


THE   SECRET   PASSAGE. 


95 


with  a  stone-flagged  floor,  and  a  dim  oil  lamp 
burning  at  the  further  end.  Two  iron-barred  win- 
dows showed  that  we  had  come  above  the  earth's 
surface  once  more.  Down  this  corridor  we  passed, 
and  then  through  several  passages  and  up  a  short 
winding  stair.  At  the  head  of  it  was  an  open 
door,  which  led  into  a  small  but  comfortable  bed- 
room. 

"  I  presume  that  this  will  satisfy  your  wants 
for  to-night/*  said  he. 

I  asked  for  nothing  better  than  to  throw  my- 
self down,  damp  clothes  and  all,  upon  that  snowy 
coverlet;  but  for  the  instant  my  curiosity  over- 
came my  fatigue. 

"  I  am  much  indebted  to  you,  sir,"  said  I. 
"  Perhaps  you  will  add  to  your  favours  by  letting 
me  know  where  I  am." 

"  You  are  in  my  house,  and  that  must  suffice 
you  for  to-night.  In  the  morning  we  shall  go 
further  into  the  matter."  He  rang  a  small  bell, 
and  a  gaunt  shock-headed  country  man-servant 
came  running  at  the  call. 

"  Your  mistress  has  retired,  I  suppose?  " 

'  Yes,  sir,  a  good  two  hours  ago." 


96  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

"  Very  good.  I  shall  call  you  myself  in  the 
morning."  He  closed  my  door,  and  the  echo  of 
his  steps  seemed  hardly  to  have  died  from  my  ears 
before  I  had  sunk  into  that  deep  and  dreamless 
sleep  which  only  youth  and  fatigue  can  give. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE    OWNER    OF    GROSBOIS. 

MY  host  was  as  good  as  his  word,  for,  when  a 
noise  in  my  room  awoke  me  in  the  morning,  it 
was  to  find  him  standing  by  the  side  of  my  bed, 
so  composed  in  his  features  and  so  drab  in  his  at- 
tire, that  it  was  hard  to  associate  him  with  the 
stirring  scenes  of  yesterday  and  with  the  repulsive 
part  which  he  had  played  in  them.  Now  in  the 
fresh  morning  sunlight  he  presented  rather  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  pedantic  schoolmaster,  an  impression 
which  was  increased  by  the  masterful,  and  yet 
benevolent,  smile  with  which  he  regarded  me.  In 
spite  of  his  smile,  I  was  more  conscious  than  ever 
that  my  whole  soul  shrank  from  him,  and  that  I 
should  not  be  at  my  ease  until  I  had  broken  this 
companionship  which  had  been  so  involuntarily 
formed.  He  carried  a  heap  of  clothes  over  one 

97 


gg  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

arm,  which  he  threw  upon  a  chair  at  the  bottom  of 
my  bed. 

"  I  gather  from  the  little  that  you  told  me  last 
night,"  said  he,  "  that  your  wardrobe  is  at  present 
somewhat  scanty.  I  fear  that  your  inches  are 
greater  than  those  of  anyone  in  my  household,  but 
I  have  brought  a  few  things  here  amongst  which 
you  may  find  something  to  fit  you.  Here,  too, 
are  the  razors,  the  soap,  and  the  powder-box.  I 
will  return  in  half  an  hour,  when  your  toilet  will 
doubtless  be  completed." 

I  found  that  my  own  clothes,  with  a  little 
brushing,  were  as  good  as  ever,  but  I  availed  my- 
self of  his  offer  to  the  extent  of  a  ruffled  shirt  and 
a  black  satin  cravat.  I  had  finished  dressing  and 
was  looking  out  of  the  window  of  my  room,  which 
opened  on  to  a  blank  wall,  when  my  host  returned. 
He  looked  me  all  over  with  a  keenly  scrutinising 
eye,  and  appeared  to  be  satisfied  with  what  he 
saw. 

"That  will  do!  That  will  do  very  well  in- 
deed!" said  he,  nodding  a  critical  head.  "In 
these  times  a  slight  indication  of  travel  or  hard 
work  upon  a  costume  is  more  fashionable  than  the 


THE  OWNER   OF   GROSBOIS.  99 

foppishness  of  the  Incroyable.  I  have  heard  ladies 
remark  that  it  was  in  better  taste.  Now,  sir,  if 
you  will  kindly  follow  me." 

His  solicitude  about  my  dress  filled  me  with 
surprise,  but  this  was  soon  forgotten  in  the  shock 
which  was  awaiting  me.  For  as  we  passed  down 
the  passage  and  into  a  large  hall  which  seemed 
strangely  familiar  to  me,  there  was  a  full-length 
portrait  of  my  father  standing  right  in  front  of  me. 
I  stood  staring  with  a  gasp  of  astonishment,  and 
turned  to  see  the  cold  grey  eyes  of  my  companion 
fixed  upon  me  with  a  humorous  glitter. 

*  You  seem  surprised,  Monsieur  de  Laval," 
said  he. 

"  For  God's  sake,"  said  I,  "  do  not  trifle  with 
me  any  further.  Who  are  you,  and  what  is  this 
place  to  which  you  have  taken  me?  " 

For  answer  he  broke  into  one  of  his  dry 
chuckles,  and,  laying  his  skinny  brown  hand  upon 
my  wrist,  he  led  me  into  a  large  apartment.  In 
the  centre  was  a  table,  tastefully  laid,  and  beyond 
it  in  a  low  chair  a  young  lady  was  seated,  with  a 
book  in  her  hand.  She  rose  as  we  entered,  and  I 
saw  that  she  was  tall  and  slender,  with  a  dark 


100  UNCLE   EERNAC. 

face,  pronounced  features,  arid  black  eyes  of  ex- 
traordinary brilliancy.  Even  in  that  one  glance 
it  struck  me  that  the  expression  with  which  she 
regarded  me  was  by  no  means  a  friendly  one. 

"  Sibylle,"  said  my  host,  and  his  words  took 
the  breath  from  my  lips,  "  this  is  your  cousin  from 
England,  Louis  de  Laval.  This,  my  dear  nephew, 
is  my  only  daughter,  Sibylle  Bernac." 

"  Then  you " 

"  I  am  your  mother's  brother,  Charles  Bernac." 

"  You  are  my  Uncle  Bernac,"  I  stammered  at 
him  like  an  idiot.  "  But  why  did  you  not  tell  me 
so?  "  I  cried. 

"  I  was  not  sorry  to  have  a  chance  of  quietly 
observing  what  his  English  education  had  done 
for  my  nephew.  It  might  also  have  been  harder 
for  me  to  stand  your  friend  if  my  comrades  had 
any  reason  to  think  that  I  was  personally  inter- 
ested in  you.  But  you  will  permit  me  now  to  wel- 
come you  heartily  to  France,  and  to  express  my 
regret  if  your  reception  has  been  a  rough  one.  I 
am  sure  that  Sibylle  will  help  me  to  atone  for  it." 
He  smiled  archly  at  his  daughter,  who  continued 
to  regard  me  with  a  stony  face. 


THE  OWNER  OF»,$R9SBO2&  :Oi 

I  looked  round  me,  and  gradually  the  spacious 
room,  with  the  weapons  upon  the  wall,  and  the 
deer's  heads,  came  dimly  back  to  my  memory. 
That  view  through  the  oriel  window,  too,  with 
the  clump  of  oaks  in  the  sloping  park,  and  the 
sea  in  the  distance  beyond,  I  had  certainly  seen 
it  before.  It  was  true  then,  and  I  was  in  our  own 
castle  of  Grosbois,  and  this  dreadful  man  in  the 
snuff-coloured  coat,  this  sinister  plotter  with  the 
death's-head  face,  was  the  man  whom  I  had  heard 
my  poor  father  curse  so  often,  the  man  who  had 
ousted  him  from  his  own  property  and  installed 
himself  in  his  place.  And  yet  I  could  not  forget 
that  it  was  he  also  who,  at  some  risk  to  himself, 
had  saved  me  the  night  before,  and  my  soul  was 
again  torn  between  my  gratitude  and  my  repul- 
sion. 

We  had  seated  ourselves  at  the  table,  and,  as 
we  ate,  this  newly-found  uncle  of  mine  continued 
to  explain  all  those  points  which  I  had  failed  to 
understand. 

"  I  suspected  that  it  was  you  the  instant  that 
I  set  eyes  upon  you,"  said  he.  "  I  am  old  enough 
to  remember  your  father  when  he  was  a  young 


To-3  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

gallant,  and  you  are  his  very  double,  though  I  may 
say,  without  flattery,  that  where  there  is  a  differ- 
ence it  is  in  your  favour.  And  yet  he  had  the 
name  of  being  one  of  the  handsomest  men  betwixt 
Rouen  and  the  sea.  You  must  bear  in  mind  that 
I  was  expecting  you,  and  that  there  are  not  so 
many  young  aristocrats  of  your  age  wandering 
about  along  the  coast.  I  was  surprised  when  you 
did  not  recognise  where  you  were  last  night.  Had 
you  never  heard  of  the  secret  passage  of  Gros- 
bois?  " 

It  came  vaguely  back  to  me  that  in  my  child- 
hood I  had  heard  of  this  underground  tunnel, 
but  that  the  roof  had  fallen  in  and  rendered  it 
useless. 

"  Precisely,"  said  my  uncle.  "  When  the  castle 
passed  into  my  hands,  one  of  the  very  first  things 
which  I  did  was  to  cut  a  new  opening  at  the  end 
of  it,  for  I  foresaw  that  in  these  troublesome  times 
it  might  be  of  use  to  me;  indeed,  had  it  been  in 
repair  it  might  have  made  the  escape  of  your 
mother  and  father  a  very  much  easier  affair." 

His  words  recalled  all  that  I  had  heard  and  all 
that  I  could  remember  of  those  dreadful  days  when 


THE   OWNER  OF  GROSBOIS. 


103 


we,  the  Lords  of  the  country  side,  had  been  chased 
across  it  as  if  we  had  been  wolves,  with  the  howl- 
ing mob  still  clustering  at  the  pier-head  to  shake 
their  fists  and  hurl  their  stones  at  us.  I  remem- 
bered, too,  that  it  was  this  very  man  who  was 
speaking  to  me  who  had  thrown  oil  upon  the 
flames  in  those  days,  and  whose  fortunes  had  been 
founded  upon  our  ruin.  As  I  looked  across  at  him 
I  found  that  his  keen  grey  eyes  were  fixed  upon 
me,  and  I  could  see  that  he  had  read  the  thoughts 
in  my  mind. 

"  We  must  let  bygones  be  bygones,"  said  he. 
"  Those  are  quarrels  of  the  last  generation,  and 
Sibylle  and  you  represent  a  new  one." 

My  cousin  had  not  said  one  word  or  taken  any 
notice  of  my  presence,  but  at  this  joining  of  our 
names  she  glanced  at  me  with  the  same  hostile 
expression  which  I  had  already  remarked. 

"  Come,  Sibylle,"  said  her  father,  "  you  can  as- 
sure your  cousin  Louis  that,  so  far  as  you  are 
concerned,  any  family  misunderstanding  is  at  an 
end." 

"  It  is  very  well  for  us  to  talk  in  that  way, 
father,"  she  answered.  "  It  is  not  your  picture 

8 


104 


UNCLE   EERNAC. 


that  hangs  in  the  hall,  or  your  coat-of-arms  that 
I  see  upon  the  wall.  We  hold  the  castle  and  the 
land,  but  it  is  for  the  heir  of  the  de  Lavals  to  tell 
us  if  he  is  satisfied  with  this."  Her  dark,  scornful 
eyes  were  fixed  upon  me  as  she  waited  for  my  reply, 
but  her  father  hastened  to  intervene. 

"  This  is  not  a  very  hospitable  tone  in  which 
to  greet  your  cousin,"  said  he  harshly.  "  It  has 
so  chanced  that  Louis'  heritage  has  fallen  to  us, 
but  it  is  not  for  us  to  remind  him  of  the  fact." 

"  He  needs  no  reminding,"  said  she. 

"  You  do  me  an  injustice,"  I  cried,  for  the  evi- 
dent and  malignant  scorn  of  this  girl  galled  me  to 
the  quick.  "  It  is  true  that  I  cannot  forget  that 
this  castle  and  these  grounds  belonged  to  my  an- 
cestors— I  should  be  a  clod  indeed  if  I  could  forget 
it — but  if  you  think  that  I  harbour  any  bitterness, 
you  are  mistaken.  For  my  own  part,  I  ask  noth- 
ing better  than  to  open  up  a  career  for  myself 
with  my  own  sword." 

"  And  never  was  there  a  time  when  it  could 
be  more  easily  and  more  brilliantly  done,"  cried 
my  uncle.  "  There  are  great  things  about  to  hap- 
pen in  the  world,  and  if  you  are  at  the  Emperor's 


THE  OWNER  OF   GROSBOIS.  IOJ 

court  you  will  be  in  the  middle  of  them.  I  under- 
stand that  you  are  content  to  serve  him?  " 

"  I  wish  to  serve  my  country." 

"  By  serving  the  Emperor  you  do  so,  for  with- 
out him  the  country  becomes  chaos." 

"  From  all  we  hear  it  is  not  a  very  easy  service/* 
said  my  cousin.  "  I  should  have  thought  that  you 
would  have  been  very  much  more  comfortable  in 
England — and  then  you  would  have  been  so  much 
safer  also." 

Everything  which  the  girl  said  seemed  to  be 
meant  as  an  insult  to  me,  and  yet  I  could  not  im- 
agine how  I  had  ever  offended  her.  Never  had 
I  met  a  woman  for  whom  I  conceived  so  hearty 
and  rapid  a  dislike.  I  could  see  that  her  remarks 
were  as  offensive  to  her  father  as  they  were  to 
me,  for  he  looked  at  her  with  eyes  which  were  as 
angry  as  her  own. 

"  Your  cousin  is  a  brave  man,  and  that  is  more 
than  can  be  said  for  someone  else  that  I  could 
mention,"  said  he. 

"  For  whom?  "  she  asked. 

"  Never  mind !  "  he  snapped,  and,  jumping  up 
with  the  air  of  a  man  who  is  afraid  that  his  rage 


106  UNCLE   BEKNAC. 

may  master  him,  and  that  he  may  say  more  than 
he  wished,  he  ran  from  the  room. 

She  seemed  startled  by  this  retort  of  his,  and 
rose  as  if  she  would  follow  him.  Then  she 
tossed  her  head  and  laughed  incredulously. 

"  I  suppose  that  you  have  never  met  your  uncle 
before?  "  said  she,  after  a  few  minutes  of  embar- 
rassed silence. 

"  Never,"  I  answered. 

"  Well,  what  do  you  think  of  him  now  you  hare 
met  him?  " 

Such  a  question  from  a  daughter  about  her 
father  filled  me  with  a  certain  vague  horror.  I 
felt  that  he  must  be  even  a  worse  man  than  I  had 
taken  him  for  if  he  had  so  completely  forfeited  the 
loyalty  of  his  own  nearest  and  dearest. 

"  Your  silence  is  a  sufficient  answer,"  said  she, 
as  I  hesitated  for  a  reply.  "I  do  not  know  how 
you  came  to  meet  him  last  night,  or  what  passed 
between  you,  for  we  do  not  share  each  other's  con- 
fidences. I  think,  however,  that  you  have  read 
him  aright.  Now  I  have  something  to  ask  you. 
You  had  a  letter  from  him  inviting  you  to  leave 
England  and  to  come  here,  had  you  not?  " 


THE  OWNER  OF  GROSBOIS. 


107 


'  Yes,  I  had." 

"  Did  you  observe  nothing  on  the  outside?  " 
I  thought  of  those  two  sinister  words  which 

had  puzzled  me  so  much. 

"  What!    it  was  you  who  warned  me  not  to 

come?  " 

"  Yes,  it  was  I.     I  had  no  other  means  of  do- 
ing it." 

"  But  why  did  you  do  it?  " 
"  Because  I  did  not  wish  you  to  come  here." 
"  Did  you  think  that  I  would  harm  you?  " 
She  sat  silent  for  a  few  seconds  like  one  who 

is  afraid  of  saying  too  much.     When  her  answer 

came  it  was  a  very  unexpected  one: 

"  I  was  afraid  that  you  would  be  harmed." 

"  You  think  that  I  am  in  danger  here?  " 

"  I  am  sure  of  it." 

"  You  advise  me  to  leave?  " 

"  Without  losing  an  instant." 

"  From  whom  is  the  danger  then?  " 

Again  she  hesitated,  and  then,  with  a  reckless 

motion  like  one  who  throws  prudence  to  the  winds, 

she  turned  upon  me. 

"  It  is  from  my  father,"  said  she. 


I0g  UNCLE  BERNAC 

"  But  why  should  he  harm  me?  " 
"  That  is  for  your  sagacity  to  discover." 
"  But  I  assure  you,  Mademoiselle,  that  in  this 
matter  you  misjudge  me,"  said  I.     "  As  it  hap- 
pens he  interfered  to  save  my  life  last  night." 
"To  save  your  life!     From  whom?" 
"  From  two  conspirators  whose  plans  I  had 
chanced  to  discover." 

"Conspirators!"  She  looked  at  me  in  sur- 
prise. 

"  They  would  have  killed  me  if  he  had  not  in- 
tervened." 

"It  is  not  his  interest  that  you  should  be 
harmed  yet  awhile.  He  had  reasons  for  wishing 
you  to  come  to  Castle  Grosbois.  But  I  have  been 
very  frank  with  you,  and  I  wish  you  to  be  equally 
cO  with  me.  Does  it  happen — does  it  happen  that 
during  your  youth  in  England  you  have  ever — 
you  have  ever  had  an  affair  of  the  heart?  " 

Everything  which  this  cousin  of  mine  said  ap- 
peared to  me  to  be  stranger  than  the  last,  and  this 
question,  coming  at  the  end  of  so  serious  a  con- 
versation, was  the  strangest  of  all.  But  frankness 
begets  frankness,  and  I  did  not  hesitate. 


THE  OWNER   OF   GROSBOIS. 


109 


"  I  have  left  the  very  best  and  truest  girl  in  the 
world  behind  me  in  England,"  said  I.  "  Eugenie 
is  her  name,  Eugenie  de  Choiseul,  the  niece  of  the 
old  duke." 

My  reply  seemed  to  give  my  cousin  great  sat- 
isfaction. Her  large  dark  eyes  shone  with  pleas- 
ure. 

"  You  are  very  attached?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  shall  never  be  happy  until  I  see  her." 

"  And  you  would  not  give  her  up?  " 

"  God  forbid! " 

"  Not  for  the  Castle  of  Grosbois?  " 

"  Not  even  for  that." 

My  cousin  held  out  her  hand  to  me  with  a 
charmingly  frank  impulsiveness. 

'  You  will  forgive  me  for  my  rudeness,"  said 
she.  "  I  see  that  we  are  to  be  allies  and  not  ene- 
mies." 

And  our  hands  were  still  clasped  when  her 
father  re-entered  the  room. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

COUSIN    SIBYLLE. 

I  COULD  see  in  my  uncle's  grim  face  as  he 
looked  at  us  the  keenest  satisfaction  contending 
with  surprise  at  this  sign  of  our  sudden  reconcilia- 
tion. All  trace  of  his  recent  anger  seemed  to  have 
left  him  as  he  addressed  his  daughter,  but  in  spite 
of  his  altered  tone  I  noticed  that  her  eyes  looked 
defiance  and  distrust. 

"  I  have  some  papers  of  importance  to  look 
over,"  said  he.  "  For  an  hour  or  so  I  shall  be  en- 
gaged. I  can  guess  that  Louis  would  like  to  see 
the  old  place  once  again,  and  I  am  sure  that  he 
could  not  have  a  better  guide  than  you,  Sibylle, 
if  you  will  take  him  over  it." 

She  raised  no  objection,  and  for  my  part  I  was 
overjoyed  at  the  proposal,  as  it  gave  me  an  oppor- 
tunity of  learning  more  of  this  singular  cousin  of 
mine,  who  had  told  me  so  much  and  yet  seemed  to 


no 


COUSIN   SIBYLLE.  TII 

know  so  much  more.  What  was  the  meaning  of 
this  obscure  warning  which  she  had  given  me 
against  her  father,  and  why  was  she  so  frankly 
anxious  to  know  about  my  love  affairs — these  were 
the  two  questions  which  pressed"  for  an  answer. 
So  out  we  went  together  into  the  sweet  coast-land 
air,  the  sweeter  for  the  gale  of  the  night  before, 
and  we  walked  through  the  old  yew-lined  paths, 
and  out  into  the  park,  and  so  round  the  Castle, 
looking  up  at  the  gables,  the  grey  pinnacles,  the 
oak-mullioned  windows,  the  ancient  wing  with  its 
crenulated  walls  and  its  meurtriere  windows,  the 
modern  with  its  pleasant  verandah  and  veil  of  hon- 
eysuckle. And  as  she  showed  me  each  fresh  little 
detail,  with  a  particularity  which  made  me  under- 
stand how  dear  the  place  had  become  to  her,  she 
would  still  keep  offering  her  apologies  for  the  fact 
that  she  should  be  the  hostess  and  I  the  visitor. 

"  It  is  not  against  you  but  against  ourselves 
that  I  was  bitter,"  said  she,  "  for  are  we  not  the 
cuckoos  who  have  taken  a  strange  nest  and  driven 
out  those  who  built  it.  It  makes  me  blush  to  think 
that  my  father  should  invite  you  to  your  own 
house." 


112  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"  Perhaps  we  had  been  rooted  here  too  long," 
I  answered.  "  Perhaps  it  is  for  our  own  good 
that  we  are  driven  out  to  carve  our  own  fortunes, 
as  I  intend  to  do." 

''  You  say  that  you  are  going  to  the  Em- 
peror." 

"  Yes." 

"  You  know  that  he  is  in  camp  near  here." 

"  So  I  have  heard." 

"  But  your  family  is  still  proscribed." 

"  I  have  done  him  no  harm.  I  will  go  boldly 
to  him  and  ask  him  to  admit  me  into  his  serv- 
ice." 

"Well,"  said  she,  "there  are  some  who  call 
him  a  usurper,  and  wish  him  all  evil;  but  for  my 
own  part  I  have  never  heard  of  anything  that  he 
has  said  and  done  which  was  not  great  and  noble. 
But  I  had  expected  that  you  would  be  quite  an 
Englishman,  Cousin  Louis,  and  come  over  here 
with  your  pockets  full  of  Pitt's  guineas  and  your 
heart  of  treason." 

"  I  have  met  nothing  but  hospitality  from  the 
English,"  I  answered;  "but  my  heart  has  always 
been  French." 


COUSIN   SIBYLLE  H3 

"  But  your  father  fought  against  us  at  Ouibe- 
ron." 

"  Let  each  generation  settle  its  own  quarrels," 
said  I.  "  I  am  quite  of  your  father's  opinion  about 
that." 

"  Do  not  judge  my  father  by  his  words,  but 
by  his  deeds,"  said  she,  with  a  warning  finger  up- 
raised; "and,  above  all,  Cousin  Louis,  unless  you 
wish  to  have  my  life  upon  your  conscience,  never 
let  him  suspect  that  I  have  said  a  word  to  set  you 
on  your  guard." 

"Your  life!"  I  gasped. 

"  Oh,  yes,  he  would  not  stick  at  that,"  she 
cried.  "  He  killed  my  mother.  I  do  not  say  that 
he  slaughtered  her,  but  I  mean  that  his  cold  bru- 
tality broke  her  gentle  heart.  Now  perhaps  you 
begin  to  understand  why  I  can  talk  of  him  in  this 
fashion." 

As  she  spoke  I  could  see  the  secret  broodings 
of  years,  the  bitter  resentments  crushed  down  in 
her  silent  soul,  rising  suddenly  to  flush  her  dark 
cheeks  and  to  gleam  in  her  splendid  eyes.  I  real- 
ised at  that  moment  that  in  that  tall,  slim  figure 
there  dwelt  an  unconquerable  spirit. 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"  You  must  think  that  I  speak  very  freely  to 
you,  since  I  have  only  known  you  a  few  hours, 
Cousin  Louis,"  said  she. 

"  To  whom  should  you  speak  freely  if  not  to 
your  own  relative?  " 

"  It  is  true,  and  yet  I  never  expected  that  I 
should  be  on  such  terms  with  you.  I  looked  for- 
ward to  your  coming  with  dread  and  sorrow.  No 
doubt  I  showed  something  of  my  feelings  when 
my  father  brought  you  in." 

"  Indeed  you  did,"  I  answered.  "  I  feared  that 
my  presence  was  unwelcome  to  you." 

"  Most  unwelcome,  both  for  your  own  sake  and 
for  mine,"  said  she.  "  For  your  sake  because  I 
suspected,  as  I  have  told  you,  that  my  father's  in- 
tentions might  be  unfriendly.  For  mine " 

"  Why  for  yours?  "  I  asked  in  surprise,  for  she 
had  stopped  in  embarrassment. 

"  You  have  told  me  that  your  heart  is  another's. 
I  may  tell  you  that  my  hand  is  also  promised,  and 
that  my  love  has  gone  with  it." 

"  May  all  happiness  attend  it!  "  said  I.  "  But 
why  should  this  make  my  coming  unwelcome?  " 

"  That  thick  English  air  has  dimmed  your  wits, 


COUSIN   SIBVLLE.  H$ 

cousin,"  said  she,  shaking  her  stately  head  at  me. 
"  But  I  can  speak  freely  now  that  I  know  that  this 
plan  would  be  as  hateful  to  you  as  to  me.  You 
must  know,  then,  that  if  my  father  could  have 
married  us  he  would  have  united  all  claims  to  the 
succession  of  Grosbois.  Then,  come  what  might — 
Bourbon  or  Buonaparte — nothing  could  shake  his 
position." 

I  thought  of  the  solicitude  which  he  had  shown 
over  my  toilet  in  the  morning,  his  anxiety  that  I 
should  make  a  favourable  impression,  his  dis- 
pleasure when  she  had  been  cold  to  me,  and  the 
smile  upon  his  face  when  he  had  seen  us  hand  in 
hand. 

"  I  believe  you  are  right!  "  I  cried. 

"  Right!  Of  course  I  am  right!  Look  at  him 
watching  us  now." 

We  were  walking  on  the  edge  of  the  dried 
moat,  and  as  I  looked  up  there,  sure  enough,  was 
the  little  yellow  face  turned  towards  us  in  the 
angle  of  one  of  the  windows.  Seeing  that  I  was 
watching  him,  he  rose  and  waved  his  hand 
merrily. 

"  Now  you  know  \vhy  he  saved  your  life — 


H6  UNCLE  BERN  AC. 

since  you  say  that  he  saved  it,"  said  she.  "  It 
would  suit  his  plans  best  that  you  should  marry 
his  daughter,  and  so  he  wished  you  to  live.  But 
when  once  he  understands  that  that  is  impossi- 
ble, why  then,  my  poor  Cousin  Louis,  his  only 
way  of  guarding  against  the  return  of  the  de 
Lavals  must  lie  in  ensuring  that  there  are  none 
to  return." 

It  was  those  words  of  hers,  coupled  with  that 
furtive  yellow  face  still  lurking  at  the  window, 
which  made  me  realise  the  imminence  of  my  dan- 
ger. No  one  in  France  had  any  reason  to  take 
an  interest  in  me.  If  I  were  to  pass  away  there 
was  no  one  who  could  make  inquiry — I  was 
absolutely  in  his  power.  My  memory  told  me 
what  a  ruthless  and  dangerous  man  it  was  with 
whom  I  had  to  deal. 

"  But,"  said  I,  "  he  must  have  known  that  your 
affections  were  already  engaged." 

"He  did,"  she  answered;  "it  was  that  which 
made  me  most  uneasy  of  all.  I  was  afraid  for  you 
and  afraid  for  myself,  but,  most  of  all,  I  was 
afraid  for  Lucien.  No  man  can  stand  in  the  way 
of  his  plans." 


She  gripped  me  by  the  wrist  in  her  anxiety. 


COUSIN   SIEYLLE.  117 

"Lucien!"  The  name  was  like  a  lightning 
flash  upon  a  dark  night.  I  had  heard  of  the 
vagaries  of  a  woman's  love,  but  was  it  possible 
that  this  spirited  woman  loved  that  poor  creature 
whom  I  had  seen  grovelling  last  night  in  a  frenzy 
of  fear.  But  now  I  remembered  also  where  I  had 
seen  the  name  Sibylle.  It  was  upon  the  fly-leaf 
of  his  book.  "  Lucien,  from  Sibylle,"  was  the  in- 
scription. I  recalled  also  that  my  uncle  had  said 
something  to  him  about  his  aspirations. 

"  Lucien  is  hot-headed,  and  easily  carried 
away,"  said  she.  "  My  father  has  seen  a  great 
deal  of  him  lately.  They  sit  for  hours  in  his  room, 
and  Lucien  will  say  nothing  of  what  passes  be- 
tween them.  I  fear  that  there  is  something  going 
forward  which  may  lead  to  evil.  Lucien  is  a  stu- 
dent rather  than  a  man  of  the  world,  but  he  has 
strong  opinions  about  politics." 

I  was  at  my  wit's  ends  what  to  do,  whether  to 
be  silent,  or  to  tell  her  of  the  terrible  position  in 
which  her  lover  was  placed;  but,  even  as  I  hesi- 
tated, she,  with  the  quick  intuition  of  a  woman, 
read  the  doubts  which  were  in  my  mind. 

"  You  know  something  of  him,"  she  cried.     "  I 


jig  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

understood  that  he  had  gone  to  Paris.  For  God's 
sake  tell  me  what  you  know  about  him." 

"  His  name  is  Lesage?  " 

'  Yes,  yes.     Lucien  Lesage." 

"  I  have — I  have  seen  him,"  I  stammered. 

'  You  have  seen  him !  And  you  only  arrived 
in  France  last  night.  Where  did  you  see  him? 
What  has  happened  to  him?  "  She  gripped  me 
by  the  wrist  in  her  anxiety. 

It  was  cruel  to  tell  her,  and  yet  it  seemed  more 
cruel  still  to  keep  silent.  I  looked  round  in  my 
bewilderment,  and  there  was  my  uncle  himself 
coming  along  over  the  close-cropped  green  lawn. 
By  his  side,  with  a  merry  clashing  of  steel  and 
jingling  of  spurs,  there  walked  a  handsome  young 
hussar — the  same  to  whom  the  charge  of  the  pris- 
oner had  been  committed  upon  the  night  before. 
Sibylle  never  hesitated  for  an  instant,  but,  with 
a  set  face  and  blazing  eyes,  she  swept  towards 
them. 

"  Father,"  said  she,  "  what  have  you  done  with 
Lucien?  " 

I  saw  his  impassive  face  wince  for  a  moment 
before  the  passionate  hatred  and  contempt  which 


COUSIN   SIBYLLE.  ng 

he  read  in  her  eyes.  "  We  will  discuss  this  at  some 
future  time,"  said  he. 

"  I  will  know  here  and  now,"  she  cried.  "  What 
have  you  done  with  Lucien?  " 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  turning  to  the  young 
hussar  and  me,  "  I  am  sorry  that  we  should  in- 
trude our  little  domestic  differences  upon  your 
attention.  You  will,  I  am  sure,  make  allowances, 
lieutenant,  when  I  tell  you  that  your  prisoner  of 
last  night  was  a  very  dear  friend  of  my  daughter's. 
Such  family  considerations  do  not  prevent  me 
from  doing  my  duty  to  the  Emperor,  but  they 
make  that  duty  more  painful  than  it  would  other- 
wise be." 

"  You  have  my  sympathy,  Mademoiselle,"  said 
the  young  hussar. 

It  was  to  him  that  my  cousin  had  now  turned. 

"  Do  I  understand  that  you  took  him  pris- 
oner? "  she  asked. 

"  It  was  unfortunately  my  duty." 

"  From  you  I  will  get  the  truth.  Whither  did 
you  take  him? " 

"  To  the  Emperor's  camp." 

"  And  why?  " 


120  UNCLE  BERN  AC. 

"  Ah,  Mademoiselle,  it  is  not  for  me  to  go  into 
politics.  My  duties  are  but  to  wield  a  sword,  and 
sit  a  horse,  and  obey  my  orders.  Both  these  gen- 
tlemen will  be  my  witnesses  that  I  received  my 
instructions  from  Colonel  Lasalle." 

"  But  on  what  charge  was  he  arrested?  " 

"  Tut,  tut,  child,  we  have  had  enough  of  this!  " 
said  my  uncle  harshly.  "  If  you  insist  upon  know- 
ing I  will  tell  you  once  and  for  all,  that  Monsieur 
Lucien  Lesage  has  been  seized  for  being  concerned 
in  a  plot  against  the  life  of  the  Emperor,  and 
that  it  was  my  privilege  to  denounce  the  would- 
be  assassin." 

"  To  denounce  him!  "  cried  the  girl.  "  I  know 
that  it  was  you  who  set  him  on,  who  encouraged 
him,  who  held  him  to  it  whenever  he  tried  to  draw 
back.  Oh,  you  villain!  you  villain!  What  have  I 
ever  done,  what  sin  of  my  ancestors  am  I  expiat- 
ing, that  I  should  be  compelled  to  call  such  a  man 
Father?  " 

My  uncle  shrugged  his  shoulders  as  if  to  say 
that  it  was  useless  to  argue  with  a  woman's  tan- 
trums. The  hussar  and  I  made  as  if  we  would 
stroll  away,  for  it  was  embarrassing  to  stand  listen- 


COUSIN   SIBYLLE.  12 1 

ing  to  such  words,  but  in  her  fury  she  called  to  us 
to  stop  and  be  witnesses  against  him.  Never  have 
I  seen  such  a  recklessness  of  passion  as  blazed  in 
her  dry,  wide-opened  eyes. 

"  You  have  deceived  others,  but  you  have 
never  deceived  me,"  she  cried..  "  I  know  you  as 
your  own  conscience  knows  you.  You  may  mur- 
der me,  as  you  murdered  my  mother  before  me, 
but  you  can  never  frighten  me  into  being  your 
accomplice.  You  proclaimed  yourself  a  republican 
that  you  might  creep  into  a  house  and  estate 
which  do  not  belong  to  you.  And  now  you  try 
to  make  a  friend  of  Buonaparte  by  betraying  your 
old  associates,  who  still  trust  in  you.  And  you 
have  sent  Lucien  to  his  death!  But  I  know  your 
plans,  and  my  cousin  Louis  knows  them  also,  and 
I  can  assure  you  that  there  is  just  as  much  chance 
of  his  agreeing  to  them  as  there  is  of  my  doing 
so.  I'd  rather  lie  in  my  grave  than  be  the  wife 
of  any  man  but  Lucien." 

"  If  you  had  seen  the  pitiful  poltroon  that  he 
proved  himself  you  would  not  say  so,"  said  my 
uncle  coolly.  "  You  are  not  yourself  at  present, 
but  when  you  return  to  your  right  mind  you  will 


122  UNCLE   BERN  AC. 

be  ashamed  of  having  made  this  public  exposure 
of  your  weakness.  And  now,  lieutenant,  you  have 
something  to  say." 

"  My  message  was  to  you,  Monsieur  de  Laval/' 
said  the  young  hussar,  turning  his  back  con- 
temptuously upon  my  uncle.  "  The  Emperor  has 
sent  me  to  bring  you  to  him  at  once  at  the  camp 
at  Boulogne." 

My  heart  leapt  at  the  thought  of  escaping  from 
my  uncle. 

"  I  ask  nothing  better/'  I  cried. 

"  A  horse  and  an  escort  are  waiting  at  the 
gates." 

"  I  am  ready  to  start  at  this  instant." 

"  Nay,  there  can  be  no  such  very  great  hurry," 
said  my  uncle.  "  Surely  you  will  wait  for  lunch- 
eon, Lieutenant  Gerard." 

"  The  Emperor's  commissions,  sir,  are  not  car- 
ried out  in  such  a  manner,"  said  the  young  hus- 
sar sternly.  "  I  have  already  wasted  too  much 
time.  We  must  be  upon  our  way  in  five  minutes." 

My  uncle  placed  his  hand  upon  my  arm  and 
led  me  slowly  towards  the  gateway,  through  which 
my  cousin  Sibylle  had  already  passed. 


COUSIN   SIBYLLE.  133 

"  There  is  one  matter  that  I  wish  to  speak  to 
you  about  before  you  go.  Since  my  time  is  so 
short  you  will  forgive  me  if  I  introduce  it  without 
preamble.  You  have  seen  your  cousin  Sibylle, 
and  though  her  behaviour  this  morning  is  such 
as  to  prejudice  you  against  her,  yet  I  can  assure 
you  that  she  is  a  very  amiable  girl.  She  spoke 
just  now  as  if  she  had  mentioned  the  plan  which 
I  had  conceived  to  you.  I  confess  to  you  that  I 
cannot  imagine  anything  more  convenient  than 
that  we  should  unite  in  order  to  settle  once  for 
all  every  question  as  to  which  branch  of  the  fam- 
ily shall  hold  the  estates." 

"  Unfortunately,"  said  I,  "  there  are  objec- 
tions." 

"  And  pray  what  are  they?  " 

:<  The  fact  that  my  cousin's  hand,  as  I  have 
just  learned,  is  promised  to  another." 

"  That  need  not  hinder  us,"  said  he,  with  a  sour 
smile;  "  I  will  undertake  that  he  never  claims  the 
promise." 

"  I  fear  that  I  have  the  English  idea  of  mar- 
riage, that  it  should  go  by  love  and  not  by  con- 
venience. But  in  any  case  your  scheme  is  out  of 


124  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

the  question,  for  my  own  affections  are  pledged 
to  a  young  lady  in  England." 

He  looked  wickedly  at  me  out  of  the  corners 
of  his  grey  eyes. 

"  Think  well  what  you  are  doing,  Louis,"  said 
he,  in  a  sibilant  whisper  which  was  as  menacing  as 
a  serpent's  hiss.  :t  You  are  deranging  my  plans, 
and  that  is  not  done  with  impunity." 

"  It  is  not  a  matter  in  which  I  have  any 
choice." 

He  gripped  me  by  the  sleeve,  and  waved  his 
hand  round  as  Satan  may  have  done  when  he 
showed  the  kingdoms  and  principalities.  "  Look 
at  the  park,"  he  cried,  "  the  fields,  the  woods. 
Look  at  the  old  castle  in  which  your  fathers  have 
lived  for  eight  hundred  years.  You  have  but  to 
say  the  word  and  it  is  all  yours  once  more." 

There  flashed  up  into  my  memory  the  little  red 
brick  house  at  Ashford,  and  Eugenie's  sweet,  pale 
face  looking  over  the  laurel-bushes  which  grew 
by  the  window. 

"It  is  impossible!"  said  I. 

There  must  have  been  something  in  my  man- 
ner which  made  him  comprehend  that  it  really 


COUSIN   SIBYLLE. 


I2J 


was  so,  for  his  face  darkened  with  anger,  and  his 
persuasion  changed  in  an  instant  to  menace. 

"  If  I  had  known  this  they  might  have  done 
what  they  wished  with  you  last  night,"  said  he. 
"  I  would  never  have  put  out  a  ringer  to  save 
you." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  so,"  I  answered, 
"  for  it  makes  it  easier  for  me  to  say  that  I  wish 
to  go  my  own  way,  and  to  have  nothing  more  to 
do  with  you.  What  you  have  just  said  frees  me 
from  the  bond  of  gratitude  which  held  me  back." 

"  I  have  no  doubt  that  you  would  like  to  have 
nothing  more  to  do  with  me,"  he  cried.  "  You 
will  wish  it  more  heartily  still  before  you  finish. 
Very  well,  sir,  go  your  own  way  and  I  will  go 
mine,  and  we  shall  see  who  comes  out  the  best  in 
the  end." 

A  group  of  hussars  were  standing  by  their 
horses'  heads  in  the  gateway.  In  a  few  minutes  I 
had  packed  my  scanty  possessions,  and  I  was 
hastening  with  them  down  the  corridor  when  a 
chill  struck  suddenly  through  my  heart  at  the 
thought  of  my  cousin  Sibylle.  How  could  I  leave 
her  alone  with  this  grim  companion  in  the  old 


126  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

castle?  Had  she  not  herself  told  me  that  her 
very  life  might  be  at  stake?  I  had  stopped  in 
my  perplexity,  and  suddenly  there  was  a  patter 
of  feet,  and  there  she  was  running  towards  me. 

"  Good-bye,  Cousin  Louis/'  she  cried,  with 
outstretched  hands. 

"I  was  thinking  of  you,"  said  I;  "your  fa- 
ther and  I  have  had  an  explanation  and  a  quarrel." 

"  Thank  God,"  she  cried.  "  Your  only  chance 
was  to  get  away  from  him.  But  beware,  for  he 
will  do  you  an  injury  if  he  can! " 

"He  may  do  his  worst;  but  how  can  I  leave 
you  here  in  his  power?  " 

"  Have  no  fears  about  me.  He  has  more  rea- 
son to  avoid  me  than  I  him.  But  they  are  calling 
for  you,  Cousin  Louis.  Good-bye,  and  God  be 
with  you!  " 


I  sprang  readily  enough  into  the  saddle. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE    CAMP    OF    BOULOGNE. 

MY  uncle  was  still  standing  at  the  castle- gate- 
way, the  very  picture  of  a  usurper,  with  our  own 
old  coat-of-arms  of  the  bend  argent  and  the  three 
blue  martlets  engraved  upon  the  stones  at  either 
side  of  him.  He  gave  me  no  sign  of  greeting  as  I 
mounted  the  large  grey  horse  which  was  awaiting 
me,  but  he  looked  thoughtfully  at  me  from  under 
his  down-drawn  brows,  and  his  jaw  muscles  still 
throbbed  with  that  stealthy,  rhythmical  move- 
ment. I  read  a  cold  and  settled  malice  in  his  set 
yellow  face  and  his  stern  eyes.  For  my  own  part 
I  sprang  readily  enough  into  the  saddle,  for  the 
man's  presence  had,  from  the  first,  been  loathsome 
to  me,  and  I  was  right  glad  to  be  able  to  turn 
my  back  upon  him.  And  so,  with  a  stern,  quick 
order  from  the  lieutenant  and  a  jingle  and  clatter 

from  the  troopers,  we  were  off  upon  our  journey. 

127 


128  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

As  I  glanced  back  at  the  black  keep  of  Grosbois, 
and  at  the  sinister  figure  who  stood  looking  after 
us  from  beside  the  gateway,  I  saw  from  over  his 
head  a  white  handkerchief  gleam  for  an  instant 
in  a  last  greeting  from  one  of  the  gloomy  meur- 
triere  windows,  and  again  a  chill  ran  through  me 
as  I  thought  of  the  fearless  girl  and  of  the  hands 
in  which  we  were  leaving  her. 

But  sorrow  clears  from  the  mind  of  youth  like 
the  tarnish  of  breath  upon  glass,  and  who  could 
carry  a  heavy  heart  upon  so  lightfooted  a  horse 
and  through  so  sweet  an  air?  The  white  glimmer- 
ing road  wound  over  the  downs  with  the  sea  far 
upon  the  left,  and  between  lay  that  great  salt- 
marsh  which  had  been  the  scene  of  our  adventures. 
I  could  even  see,  as  I  fancied,  a  dull  black  spot  in 
the  distance  to  mark  the  position  of  that  terrible 
cottage.  Far  away  the  little  clusters  of  houses 
showed  the  positions  of  Etaples,  Ambleterre,  and 
the  other  fishing  villages,  whilst  I  could  see  that 
the  point  which  had  seemed  last  night  to  glow 
like  a  half-forged  red-hot  sword-blade  was  now 
white  as  a  snow-field  with  the  camp  of  a  great 
army.  Far,  far  away,  a  little  dim  cloud  upon  the 


THE  CAMP  OF   BOULOGNE.  129 

water  stood  for  the  land  where  I  had  spent  my 
days — the  pleasant,  homely  land  which  will  always 
rank  next  to  my  own  in  my  affections. 

And  now  I  turned  my  attention  from  the 
downs  and  the  sea  to  the  hussars  who  rode  beside 
me,  forming,  as  I  could  perceive,  a  guard  rather 
than  an  escort.  Save  for  the  patrol  last  night, 
they  were  the  first  of  the  famous  soldiers  of  Na- 
poleon whom  I  had  ever  seen,  and  it  was  with 
admiration  and  curiosity  that  I  looked  upon  men 
who  had  won  a  world- wide  reputation  for  their 
discipline  and  their  gallantry.  Their  appearance 
was  by  no  means  gorgeous,  and  their  dress  and 
equipment  was  much  more  modest  than  that  of 
the  East  Kent  Yeomanry,  which  rode  every  Sat- 
urday through  Ashford;  but  the  stained  tunics, 
the  worn  leathers,  and  the  rough,  hardy  horses 
gave  them  a  very  workmanlike  appearance.  They 
were  small,  light,  brown-faced  fellows,  heavily 
whiskered  and  moustached,  many  of  them  wear- 
ing ear-rings  in  their  ears.  It  surprised  me  that 
even  the  youngest  and  most  boyish-looking  of 
them  should  be  so  bristling  with  hair,  until,  upon 
a  second  look,  I  perceived  that  his  whiskers  were 


130  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

formed  of  lumps  of  black  wax  stuck  on  to  the 
sides  of  his  face.  The  tall  young  lieutenant  no- 
ticed the  astonishment  with  which  I  gazed  at  his 
boyish  trooper. 

*  Yes,  yes,"  said  he,  "  they  are  artificial,  sure 
enough;  but  what  can  you  expect  from  a  lad  of 
seventeen?  On  the  other  hand,  we  cannot  spoil 
the  appearance  of  the  regiment  upon  parade  by 
having  a  girl's  cheeks  in  the  ranks." 

"  It  melts  terribly  in  this  warm  weather,  Lieu- 
tenant," said  the  hussar,  joining  into  the  conversa- 
tion with  the  freedom  which  was  one  of  the  char- 
acteristics of  Napoleon's  troops. 

"  Well,  well,  Caspar,  in  a  year  or  two  you  will 
dispense  with  them." 

"  Who  knows?  Perhaps  he  will  have  dis- 
pensed with  his  head  also  by  that  time,"  said  a 
corporal  in  front,  and  they  all  laughed  together 
in  a  manner  which  in  England  would  have  meant 
a  court-martial.  This  seemed  to  me  to  be  one  of 
the  survivals  of  the  Revolution,  that  officer  and 
private  were  left  upon  a  very  familiar  footing, 
which  was  increased,  no  doubt  by  the  freedom  with 
which  the  Emperor  would  chat  with  his  old  sol- 


THE  CAMP  OF   BOULOGNE.  131 

diers,  and  the  liberties  which  he  would  allow  them 
to  take  with  him.  It  was  no  uncommon  thing 
for  a  shower  of  chaff  to  come  from  the  ranks  di- 
rected at  their  own  commanding  officers,  and  I 
am  sorry  to  say,  also,  that  it  was  no  very  unusual 
thing  for  a  shower  of  bullets  to  come  also.  Un- 
popular officers  were  continually  assassinated  by 
their  own  men;  at  the  battle  of  Montebello  it  is 
well  known  that  every  officer,  with  the  exception 
of  one  lieutenant  belonging  to  the  24th  demi-bri- 
gade,  was  shot  down  from  behind.  But  this  was  a 
relic  of  the  bad  times,  and,  as  the  Emperor  gained 
more  complete  control,  a  better  feeling  was  es- 
tablished. The  history  of  our  army  at  that  time 
proved,  at  any  rate,  that  the  highest  efficiency 
could  be  maintained  without  the  flogging  which 
was  still  used  in  the  Prussian  and  the  English 
service,  and  it  was  shown,  for  the  first  time,  that 
great  bodies  of  men  could  be  induced  to  act  from 
a  sense  of  duty  and  a  love  of  country,  without 
hope  of  reward  or  fear  of  punishment.  When  a 
French  General  could  suffer  his  division  to  strag- 
gle as  they  would  over  the  face  of  the  country, 
with  the  certainty  that  they  would  concentrate 


132  UNCLE    BERN  AC. 

upon  the  day  of  battle,  he  proved  that  he  had  sol- 
diers who  were  worthy  of  his  trust. 

One  thing  had  struck  me  as  curious  about 
these  hussars — that  they  pronounced  French  with 
the  utmost  difficulty.  I  remarked  it  to  the  lieu- 
tenant as  he  rode  by  my  side,  and  I  asked  him 
from  what  foreign  country  his  men  were  recruited, 
since  I  could  perceive  that  they  were  not  French- 
men. 

"  My  faith,  you  must  not  let  them  hear  you 
say  so,"  said  he,  "  for  they  would  answer  you  as 
like  as  not  by  a  thrust  from  their  sabres.  We 
are  the  premier  regiment  of  the  French  cavalry, 
the  first  hussars  of  Bercheny,  and,  though  it  is 
true  that  our  men  are  all  recruited  in  Alsace,  and 
few  of  them  can  speak  anything  but  German,  they 
are  as  good  Frenchmen  as  Kleber  or  Kellermann, 
who  came  from  the  same  parts.  Our  men  are  all 
picked,  and  our  officers,"  he  added,  pulling  at  his 
light  moustache,  "  are  the  finest  in  the  service." 

The  swaggering  vanity  of  the  fellow  amused 
me,  for  he  cocked  his  busby,  swung  the  blue  dol- 
man which  hung  from  his  shoulder,  sat  his  horse, 
and  clattered  his  scabbard  in  a  manner  which  told 


THE  CAMP  OF   BOULOGNE.  133 

of  his  boyish  delight  and  pride  in  himself  and  his 
regiment.  As  I  looked  at  his  lithe  figure  and  his 
fearless  bearing,  I  could  quite  imagine  that  he  did 
himself  no  more  than  justice,  while  his  frank  smile 
and  his  merry  blue  eyes  assured  me  that  he  would 
prove  a  good  comrade.  He  had  himself  been  tak- 
ing observations  of  me,  for  he  suddenly  placed  his 
hand  upon  my  knee  as  we  rode  'side  by  side. 

"  I  trust  that  the  Emperor  is  not  displeased 
with  you,"  said  he,  with  a  very  grave  face. 

"  I  cannot  think  that  he  can  be  so,"  I  an- 
swered, "  for  I  have  come  from  England  to  put 
my  services  at  his  disposal." 

"  When  the  report  was  presented  last  night, 
and  he  heard  of  your  presence  in  that  den  of 
thieves,  he  was  very  anxious  that  you  should  be 
brought  to  him.  Perhaps  it  is  that  he  wishes  you 
to  be  guide  to  us  in  England.  No  doubt  you 
know  your  way  all  over  the  island." 

The  hussar's  idea  of  an  island  seemed  to  be 
limited  to  the  little  patches  which  lie  off  the  Nor- 
man or  Breton  coast.  I  tried  to  explain  to  him 
that  this  was  a  great  country,  not  much  smaller 
than  France. 


134  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"Well,  well,"  said  he,  "we  shall  know  all 
about  it  presently,  for  we  are  going  to  conquer  it. 
They  say  in  the  camp  that  we  shall  probably  enter 
London  either  next  Wednesday  evening  or  else 
on  the  Thursday  morning.  We  are  to  have  a 
week  for  plundering  the  town,  and  then  one  army 
corps  is  to  take  possession  of  Scotland  and  another 
of  Ireland." 

His  serene  confidence  made  me  smile.  "  But 
how  do  you  know  you  can  do  all  this?  "  I  asked. 

"  Oh! "  said  he,  "  the  Emperor  has  arranged 
it." 

"  But  they  have  an  army,  and  they  are  well 
prepared.  They  are  brave  men  and  they  will 
fight." 

"  There  would  be  no  use  their  doing  that,  for 
the  Emperor  is  going  over  himself,"  said  he;  and 
in  the  simple  answer  I  understood  for  the  first 
time  the  absolute  trust  and  confidence  which  these 
soldiers  had  in  their  leader.  Their  feeling  for  him 
was  fanaticism,  and  its  strength  was  religion,  and 
never  did  Mahomet  nerve  the  arms  of  his  believers 
and  strengthen  them  against  pain  and  death  more 
absolutely  than  this  little  grey-coated  idol  did  to 


THE  CAMP  OF  BOULOGNE.  135 

those  who  worshipped  him.  If  he  had  chosen — 
and  he  was  more  than  once  upon  the  point  of  it — 
to  assert  that  he  was  indeed  above  humanity  he 
would  have  found  millions  to  grant  his  claim.  You 
who  have  heard  of  him  as  a  stout  gentleman  in  a 
straw  hat,  as  he  was  in  his  later  days,  may  find  it 
hard  to  understand  it,  but  if  you  had  seen  his 
mangled  soldiers  still  with  their  dying  breath  cry- 
ing out  to  him,  and  turning  their  livid  faces 
towards  him  as  he  passed,  you  would  have  real- 
ised the  hold  which  he  had  over  the  minds  of 
men. 

1  You  have  been  over  there?  "  asked  the  lieu- 
tenant presently,  jerking  his  thumb  towards  the 
distant  cloud  upon  the  water. 

"  Yes,  I  have  spent  my  life  there." 

"  But  why  did  you  stay  there  when  there  was 
such  good  fighting  to  be  had  in  the  French  serv- 
ice? " 

"  My  father  was  driven  out  of  the  country  as 
an  aristocrat.  It  was  only  after  his  death  that  I 
could  offer  my  sword  to  the  Emperor." 

'  You  have  missed  a  great  deal,  but  I  have  no 
doubt  that  we  shall  still  have  plenty  of  fine  wars. 

IO 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 

And  you  think  that  the  English  will  offer  us 
battle?  " 

"  I  have  no  doubt  of  it." 

"  We  feared  that  when  they  understood  that  it 
was  the  Emperor  in  person  who  had  come  they 
would  throw  down  their  arms.  I  have  heard  that 
there  are  some  fine  women  over  there." 

"  The  women  are  beautiful." 

He  said  nothing,  but  for  some  time  he  squared 
his  shoulders  and  puffed  out  his  chest,  curling  up 
the  ends  of  his  little  yellow  moustache. 

"  But  they  will  escape  in  boats,"  he  muttered 
at  last;  and  I  could  see  that  he  had  still  that  pic- 
ture of  a  little  island  in  his  imagination.  "  If  they 
could  but  see  us  they  might  remain.  It  has  been 
said  of  the  Hussars  of  Bercheny  that  they  can  set 
a  whole  population  running,  the  women  towards 
us,  the  men  away.  We  are,  as  you  have  no  doubt 
observed,  a  very  fine  body  of  men,  and  the  officers 
are  the  pick  of  the  service,  though  the  seniors 
are  hardly  up  to  the  same  standard  as  the  rest 
of  us." 

With  all  his  self-confidence,  this  officer  did  not 
seem  to  me  to  be  more  than  my  own  age,  so  I 


THE  CAMP  OF   BOULOGNE.  137 

asked  him  whether  he  had  seen  any  service.  His 
moustache  bristled  with  indignation  at  my  ques- 
tion, and  he  looked  me  up  and  down  with  a  se- 
vere eye. 

"  I  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  present  at 
nine  battles,  sir,  and  at  more  than  forty  skir- 
mishes," said  he.  "  I  have  also  fought  a  consider- 
able number  of  duels,  and  I  can  assure  you 
that  I  am  always  ready  to  meet  anyone — even 
a  civilian — who  may  wish  to  put  me  to  the 
proof." 

I  assured  him  that  he  was  very  fortunate  to  be 
so  young  and  yet  to  have  seen  so  much,  upon 
which  his  ill-temper  vanished  as  quickly  as  it  came, 
and  he  explained  that  he  had  served  in  the  Hohen- 
linden  campaign  under  Moreau,  as  well  as  in  Napo- 
leon's passage  of  the  Alps,  and  the  campaign  of 
Marengo. 

"  When  you  have  been  with  the  army  for  a 
little  time  the  name  of  Etienne  Gerard  will  not  be 
so  unfamiliar  to  you,"  said  he.  "  I  believe  that 
I  may  claim  to  be  the  hero  of  one  or  two  little 
stories  which  the  soldiers  love  to  tell  about  their 
camp  fires.  You  will  hear  of  my  duel  with  the 


138  UNCLE   EERNAC. 

six  fencing  masters,  and  you  will  be  told  how, 
single-handed,  I  charged  the  Austrian  Hussars  of 
Graz  and  brought  their  silver  kettledrum  back 
upon  the  crupper  of  my  mare.  I  can  assure  you 
that  it  was  not  by  accident  that  I  was  present  last 
night,  but  it  was  because  Colonel  Lasalle  was 
very  anxious  to  be  sure  of  any  prisoners  whom 
he  might  make.  As  it  turned  out,  however,  I  only 
had  the  one  poor  chicken-hearted  creature,  whom 
I  handed  over  to  the  provost-marshal/' 

"And  the  other— Toussac?  " 

"  Ah,  he  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of  another 
breed.  I  could  have  asked  nothing  better  than  to 
have  had  him  at  my  sword-point.  But  he  has  es- 
caped. They  caught  sight  of  him  and  fired  a  pistol 
or  two,  but  he  knew  the  bog  too  well,  and  they 
could  not  follow  him." 

"  And  what  will  be  done  to  your  prisoner?  " 
I  asked. 

Lieutenant  Gerard  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  I  am  very  sorry  for  Mademoiselle  your  cou- 
sin," said  he,  "  but  a  fine  girl  should  not  love  such 
a  man  when  there  are  so  many  gallant  soldiers 
upon  the  country  side.  I  hear  that  the  Emperor 


THE  CAMP  OF   BOULOGNE. 


139 


is  weary  of  these  endless  plottings,  and  that  an 
example  will  be  made  of  him." 

Whilst  the  young  hussar  and  I  had  been  talk- 
ing we  had  been  cantering  down  the  broad  white 
road,  until  we  were  now  quite  close  to  the  camp, 
which  we  could  see  lying  in  its  arrangement  of 
regiments  and  brigades  beneath  us.  Our  approach 
lay  over  the  high  ground,  so  that  we  could  see 
down  into  this  canvas  city,  with  its  interminable 
lines  of  picketed  horses,  its  parks  of  artillery,  and 
its  swarms  of  soldiers.  In  the  centre  was  a  clear 
space,  with  one  very  large  tent  and  a  cluster  of 
low  wooden  houses  in  the  middle  of  it,  with  the 
tri-colour  banner  waving  above  them. 

"  That  is  the  Emperor's  quarters,  and  the 
smaller  tent  there  is  the  headquarters  of  General 
Ney,  who  commands  this  corps.  You  understand 
that  this  is  only  one  of  several  armies  dotted  along 
from  Dunkirk  in  the  north  to  this,  which  is  fhe 
most  southerly.  The  Emperor  goes  from  one  to 
the  other,  inspecting  each  in  its  turn,  but  this  is 
the  main  body,  and  contains  most  of  the  picked 
troops,  so  that  it  is  we  who  see  most  of  him,  espe- 
cially now  that  the  Empress  and  the  Court  have 


I40  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

come  to  Pont  des  Briques.  He  is  in  there  at  the 
present  moment,"  he  added  in  a  hushed  voice, 
pointing  to  the  great  white  tent  in  the  centre. 

The  road  into  the  camp  ran  through  a  consid- 
erable plain,  which  was  covered  by  bodies  of  cav- 
alry and  infantry  engaged  upon  their  drill.  We 
had  heard  so  much  in  England  about  Napoleon's 
troops,  and  their  feats  had  appeared  so  extraor- 
dinary, that  my  imagination  had  prepared  me  for 
men  of  very  striking  appearance.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  ordinary  infantry  of  the  line,  in  their  blue 
coats  and  white  breeches  and  gaiters,  were  quite 
little  fellows,  and  even  their  high  brass-covered 
hats  and  red  plumes  could  not  make  them  very 
imposing. 

In  spite  of  their  size,  however,  they  were  tough 
and  wiry,  and  after  their  eighteen  months  in  camp 
they  were  trained  to  the  highest  pitch  of  perfec- 
tion. The  ranks  were  full  of  veterans,  and  all 
the  under-officers  had  seen  much  service,  while 
the  generals  in  command  have  never  been  equalled 
in  ability,  so  that  it  was  no  mean  foe  which  lay 
with  its  menacing  eyes  fixed  upon  the  distant  cliffs 
of  England.  If  Pitt  had  not  been  able  to  place 


1 


"  Those  fellows  are  the  Cuirassiers,"  said  he. 


THE   CAMP   OF   BOULOGNE.  I4I 

the  first  navy  in  the  world  between  the  two  shores 
the  history  of  Europe  might  be  very  different 
to-day. 

Lieutenant  Gerard,  seeing  the  interest  with 
which  I  gazed  at  the  manoeuvring  troops,  was 
good  enough  to  satisfy  my  curiosity  about  such 
of  them  as  approached  the  road  along  which  we 
were  journeying. 

"  Those  fellows  on  the  black  horses  with  the 
great  blue  rugs  upon  their  croups  are  the  Cuiras- 
siers," said  he.  "  They  are  so  heavy  that  they 
cannot  raise  more  than  a  trot,  so  when  they  charge 
we  manage  that  there  shall  be  a  brigade  of  chas- 
seurs or  hussars  behind  them  to  follow  up  the  ad- 
vantage." 

"  Who  is  the  civilian  who  is  inspecting  them?  " 
I  asked. 

"  That  is  not  a  civilian,  but  it  is  General  St. 
Cyr,  who  is  one  of  those  whom  they  called  the 
Spartans  of  the  Rhine.  They  were  of  opinion  that 
simplicity  of  life  and  of  dress  were  part  of  a  good 
soldier,  and  so  they  would  wear  no  uniform  beyond 
a  simple  blue  riding  coat,  such  as  you  see.  St. 
Cyr  is  an  excellent  officer,  but  he  is  not  popular, 


UNCLE  BERNAC. 

for  he  seldom  speaks  to  anyone,  and  he  some- 
times shuts  himself  up  for  days  on  end  in  his  tent, 
where  he  plays  upon  his  violin.  I  think  myself 
that  a  soldier  is  none  the  worse  because  he  enjoys 
a  glass  of  good  wine,  or  has  a  smart  jacket  and  a 
few  Brandenburgs  across  his  chest.  For  my  part 
I  do  both,  and  yet  those  who  know  me  would 
tell  you  that  it  has  not  harmed  my  soldiering. 
You  see  this  infantry  upon  the  left?  " 
"  The  men  with  the  yellow  facings?  " 
"  Precisely.  Those  are  Oudinot's  famous 
grenadiers.  And  the  other  grenadiers,  with  the 
red  shoulder-knots  and  the  fur  hats  strapped  above 
their  knapsacks,  are  the  Imperial  Guard,  the  suc- 
cessors of  the  old  Consular  Guard  who  won  Ma- 
rengo  for  us.  Eighteen  hundred  of  them  got  the 
cross  of  honour  after  the  battle.  There  is  the  57th 
of  the  line,  which  has  been  named  '  The  Terrible/ 
and  there  is  the  /th  Light  Infantry,  who  come 
from  the  Pyrenees,  and  who  are  well  known  to  be 
the  best  marchers  and  the  greatest  rascals  in  the 
army.  The  light  cavalry  in  green  are  the  Horse 
Chasseurs  of  the  Guard,  sometimes  called  the 
Guides,  who  are  said  to  be  the  Emperor's  favour- 


THE  CAMP   OF    BOULOGNE. 


143 


ite  troops,  although  he  makes  a  great  mistake  if 
he  prefers  them  to  the  Hussars  of  Bercheny.  The 
other  cavalry  with  the  green  pelisses  are  also 
chasseurs,  but  I  cannot  tell  from  here  what  regi- 
ment they  are.  Their  colonel  handles  them  ad- 
mirably. They  are  moving  to  a  flank  in  open  col- 
umn of  half-squadrons  and  then  wheeling  into  line 
to  charge.  We  could  not  do  it  better  ourselves. 
And  now,  Monsieur  de  Laval,  here  we  are  at  the 
gates  of  the  Camp  of  Boulogne,  and  it  is  my  duty 
to  take  you  straight  to  the  Emperor's  quarters." 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE   ANTE-ROOM. 

THE  camp  of  Boulogne  contained  at  that  time 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  infantry,  with 
fifty  thousand  cavalry,  so  that  its  population  was 
second  only  to  Paris  among  the  cities  of  France. 
It  was  divided  into  four  sections,  the  right  camp, 
the  left  camp,  the  camp  of  Wimereux,  and  the 
camp  of  Ambleteuse,  the  whole  being  about  a 
mile  in  depth,  and  extending  along  the  seashore 
for  a  length  of  about  seven  miles.  On  the  land 
side  it  was  open,  but  on  the  sea  side  it  was  fringed 
by  powerful  batteries  containing  mortars  and  can- 
non of  a  size  never  seen  before.  These  batteries 
were  placed  along  the  edges  of  the  high  cliffs,  and 
their  lofty  position  increased  their  range,  and  en- 
abled them  to  drop  their  missiles  upon  the  decks 
of  the  English  ships. 

It  was  a  pretty  sight  to  ride  through  the  camp, 
144 


THE   ANTE-ROOM. 


145 


for  the  men  had  been  there  for  more  than  a  year, 
and  had  done  all  that  could  be  done  to  decorate 
and  ornament  their  tents.  Most  of  them  had 
little  gardens  in  front  or  around  them,  and  the 
sun-burned  fellows  might  be  seen  as  we  passed 
kneeling  in  their  shirt-sleeves  with  their  spuds  and 
their  watering-cans  in  the  midst  of  their  flower- 
beds. Others  sat  in  the  sunshine  at  the  openings 
of  the  tents  tying  up  their  queues,  pipe-claying 
their  belts,  and  polishing  their  arms,  hardly  be- 
stowing a  glance  upon  us  as  we  passed,  for  patrols 
of  cavalry  were  coming  and  going  in  every  direc- 
tion. The  endless  lines  were  formed  into  streets, 
with  their  names  printed  up  upon  boards.  Thus 
we  had  passed  through  the  Rue  d'Arcola,  the  Rue 
de  Kleber,  the  Rue  d'Egypte,  and  the  Rue  d'Ar- 
tillerie  Volante,  before  we  found  ourselves  in  the 
great  central  square  in  which  the  headquarters 
of  the  army  were  situated. 

The  Emperor  at  this  time  used  to  sleep  at  a 
village  called  Pont  des  Brigues,  some  four  miles 
inland,  but  his  days  were  spent  at  the  camp,  and 
his  continual  councils  of  war  wrere  held  there. 
Here  also  were  his  ministers,  and  the  generals  of 


146  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

the  army  corps  which  were  scattered  up  and  down 
the  coast  came  thither  to  make  their  reports  and 
to  receive  their  orders.  For  these  consultations  a 
plain  wooden  house  had  been  constructed  contain- 
ing one  very  large  room  and  three  small  ones. 
The  pavilion  which  we  had  observed  from  the 
Downs  served  as  an  ante-chamber  to  the  house, 
in  which  those  who  sought  audience  with  the  Em- 
peror might  assemble.  It  was  at  the  door  of  this, 
where  a  strong  guard  of  grenadiers  announced 
Napoleon's  presence,  that  my  guardian  sprang 
down  from  his  horse  and  signed  to  me  to  follow 
his  example.  An  officer  of  the  guard  took  our 
names  and  returned  to  us  accompanied  by  General 
Duroc,  a  thin,  hard,  dry  man  of  forty,  with  a  for- 
mal manner  and  a  suspicious  eye. 

"  Is  this  Monsieur  Louis  de  Laval?  "  he  asked, 
with  a  stiff  smile. 

I  bowed. 

"The  Emperor  is  very  anxious  to  see  you. 
You  are  no  longer  needed,  Lieutenant." 

"  I  am  personally  responsible  for  bringing  him 
safely,  General." 

"  Very  good.    You  may  come  in,  if  you  prefer 


THE    ANTE-ROOM. 

it!  "  And  he  passed  us  into  the  huge  tent,  which 
was  unfurnished,  save  for  a  row  of  wooden  benches 
round  the  side.  A  number  of  men  in  naval  and 
military  uniforms  were  seated  upon  these,  and 
numerous  groups  were  standing  about  chatting  in 
subdued  tones.  At  the  far  end  was  a  door  which 
led  into  the  Imperial  council  chamber.  Now  and 
then  I  saw  some  man  in  official  dress  walk  up  to 
this  door,  scratch  gently  upon  it  with  his  nail,  and 
then,  as  it  instantly  opened,  slip  discreetly 
through,  closing  it  softly  behind  him.  Over  the 
whole  assembly  there  hung  an  air  of  the  Court 
rather  than  of  the  camp,  an  atmosphere  of  awe 
and  of  reverence  which  was  the  more  impressive 
when  it  affected  these  bluff  soldiers  and  sailors. 
The  Emperor  had  seemed  to  me  to  be  formidable 
in  the  distance,  but  I  found  him  even  more  over- 
whelming now  that  he  was  close  at  hand. 

"  You  need  have  no  fears,  Monsieur  de  Laval," 
said  my  companion.  "  You  are  going  to  have  a 
good  reception." 

"  How  do  you  know  that?  " 

"  From  General  Duroc's  manner.  In  these 
cursed  Courts,  if  the  Emperor  smiles  upon  you 


148  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

everyone  smiles,  down  to  that  flunkey  in  the  red 
velvet  coat  yonder.  But  if  the  Emperor  frowns, 
why,  you  have  only  to  look  at  the  face  of  the  man 
who  washes  the  Imperial  plates,  and  you  will  see 
the  frown  reflected  upon  it.  And  the  worst  of  it  is 
that,  if  you  are  a  plain-witted  man,  you  may  never 
find  out  what  earned  you  either  the  frown  or  the 
smile.  That  is  why  I  had  rather  wear  the  shoulder- 
straps  of  a  lieutenant,  and  be  at  the  side  of  my 
squadron,  with  a  good  horse  between  my  knees 
and  my  sabre  clanking  against  my  stirrup-iron, 
than  have  Monsieur  Talleyrand's  grand  hotel  in 
the  Rue  Saint  Florentin,  and  his  hundred  thou- 
sand livres  of  income." 

I  was  still  wondering  whether  the  Hussar  could 
be  right,  and  if  the  smile  with  which  Duroc  had 
greeted  me  could  mean  that  the  Emperor's  inten- 
tions towards  me  were  friendly,  when  a  very  tall 
and  handsome  man,  in  a  brilliant  uniform,  came 
towards  me.  In  spite  of  the  change  in  his  dress, 
I  recognised  him  at  once  as  the  General  Savary 
who  had  commanded  the  expedition  of  the  night 
before. 

"  Well,  Monsieur  de  Laval,"  said  he,  shaking 


THE   ANTE-ROOM.  149 

hands  with  me  very  pleasantly,  "  you  have  heard, 
no  doubt,  that  this  fellow  Toussac  has  escaped  us. 
He  was  really  the  only  one  whom  we  were  anxious 
to  seize,  for  the  other  is  evidently  a  mere  dupe  and 
dreamer.  But  we  shall  have  him  yet,  and  between 
ourselves  we  shall  keep  a  very  strict  guard  upon 
the  Emperor's  person  until  we  do,  for  Master 
Toussac  is  not  a  man  to  be  despised." 

I  seemed  to  feel  his  great  rough  thumb  upon 
my  chin  as  I  answered  that  I  thought  he  was  a 
very  dangerous  man  indeed. 

"  The  Emperor  will  see  you  presently,"  said 
Savary.  "  He  is  very  busy  this  morning,  but  he 
bade  me  say  that  you  should  have  an  audience." 
He  smiled  and  passed  on. 

"  Assuredly  you  are  getting  on,"  whispered 
Gerard.  "  There  are  a  good  many  men  here  who 
would  risk  something  to  have  Savary  address  them 
as  he  addressed  you.  The  Emperor  is  certainly 
going  to  do  something  for  you.  But  attention, 
friend,  for  here  is  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand  himself 
coming  towards  us." 

A  singular-looking  person  was  shuffling  in  our 
direction.  He  was  a  man  about  fifty  years  of  age, 


150 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 


largely  made  about  the  shoulders  and  chest,  but 
stooping  a  good  deal,  and  limping  heavily  in  one 
leg.  He  walked  slowly,  leaning  upon  a  silver- 
headed  stick,  and  his  sober  suit  of  black,  with  silk 
stockings  of  the  same  hue,  looked  strangely  staid 
among  the  brilliant  uniforms  which  surrounded 
him.  But  in  spite  of  his  plain  dress  there  was  an 
expression  of  great  authority  upon  his  shrewd 
face,  and  every  one  drew  back  with  bows  and  sa- 
lutes as  he  moved  across  the  tent. 

"  Monsieur  Louis  de  Laval?  "  said  he,  as  he 
stopped  in  front  of  me,  and  his  cold  grey  eyes 
played  over  me  from  head  to  heel. 

I  bowed,  and  with  some  coldness,  for  I  shared 
the  dislike  which  my  father  used  to  profess  for  this 
unfrocked  priest  and  perjured  politician;  but  his 
manner  was  so  polished  and  engaging  that  it  was 
hard  to  hold  out  against  it. 

"  I  knew  your  cousin  de  Rohan  very  well  in- 
deed," said  he.  "  We  were  two  rascals  together 
when  the  world  was  not  quite  so  serious  as  it  is 
at  present.  I  believe  that  you  are  related  to 
the  Cardinal  de  Montmorency  de  Laval,  who  is 
also  an  old  friend  of  mine.  I  understand  that 


THE  ANTE-ROOM.  151 

you  are  about  to  offer  your  services  to  the  Em- 
peror? " 

"  I  have  come  from  England  for  that  purpose, 
sir." 

"  And  met  with  some  little  adventure  immedi- 
ately upon  your  arrival,  as  I  understand.  I  have 
heard  the  story  of  the  worthy  police  agent,  the 
two  Jacobins,  and  the  lonely  hut.  Well,  you  have 
seen  the  danger  to  which  the  Emperor  is  exposed, 
and  it  may  make  you  the  more  zealous  in  his 
service.  Where  is  your  uncle,  Monsieur  Bernac?  " 

"  He  is  at  the  Castle  of  Grosbois." 

"  Do  you  know  him  well?  " 

"  I  had  not  seen  him  until  yesterday." 

"  He  is  a  very  useful  servant  of  the  Emperor, 
but — but — "  he  inclined  his  head  downward  to  my 
ear,  "  some  more  congenial  service  will  be  found 
for  you,  Monsieur  de  Laval,"  and  so,  with  a  bow, 
he  whisked  round,  and  tapped  his  way  across  the 
tent  again. 

"Why,  my  friend,  you  are  certainly  destined 
for  something  great,"  said  the  hussar  lieutenant. 
"  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand  does  not  waste  his  smiles 
and  his  bows,  I  promise  you.  He  knows  which 


ii 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 

way  the  wind  blows  before  he  flies  his  kite,  and 
I  foresee  that  I  shall  be  asking  for  your  interest 
to  get  me  my  captaincy  in  this  English  cam- 
paign. Ah,  the  council  of  war  is  at  an  end." 

As  he  spoke  the  inner  door  at  the  end  of  the 
great  tent  opened,  and  a  small  knot  of  men  came 
through  dressed  in  the  dark  blue  coats,  with  trim- 
mings of  gold  oak-leaves,  which  marked  the  mar- 
shals of  the  Empire.  They  were,  all  but  one, 
men  who  had  hardly  reached  their  middle  age, 
and  who,  in  any  other  army,  might  have  been  con- 
sidered fortunate  if  they  had  gained  the  command 
of  a  regiment;  but  the  continuous  wars  and  the 
open  system  by  which  rules  of  seniority  yielded 
to  merit  had  opened  up  a  rapid  career  to  a  suc- 
cessful soldier.  Each  carried  his  curved  cocked 
hat  under  his  arm,  and  now,  leaning  upon  their 
sword-hilts,  they  fell  into  a  little  circle  and  chatted 
eagerly  among  themselves. 

"  You  are  a  man  of  family,  are  you  not? " 
asked  my  hussar. 

"  I  am  of  the  same  blood  as  the  de  Rohans 
and  the  Montmorencies. 

"So  I  had  understood.     Well,  then,  you  will 


THE   ANTE-ROOM. 


153 


understand  that  there  have  been  some  changes  in 
this  country  when  I  tell  you  that  those  men  who, 
under  the  Emperor,  are  the  greatest  in  the  coun- 
try have  been  the  one  a  waiter,  the  next  a  wine 
smuggler,  the  next  a  cooper  of  barrels,  and  the 
next  a  house  painter.  Those  are  the  trades  which 
gave  us  Murat,  Massena,  Ney,  and  Lannes." 

Aristocrat  as  I  was,  no  names  had  ever  thrilled 
me  as  those  did,  and  I  eagerly  asked  him  to  point 
me  out  each  of  these  famous  soldiers. 

"  Oh,  there  are  many  famous  soldiers  in  the 
room,"  said  he.  "  Besides/'  he  added,  twisting  his 
moustache,  "  there  may  be  junior  officers  here  who 
have  it  in  them  to  rise  higher  than  any  of  them. 
But  there  is  Ney  to  the  right." 

I  saw  a  man  with  close-cropped  red  hair  and  a 
large  square-jowled  face,  such  as  I  have  seen  upon 
an  English  prize-fighter. 

"  We  call  him  Peter  the  Red,  and  sometimes 
the  Red  Lion,  in  the  army,"  said  my  companion. 
"  He  is  said  to  be  the  bravest  man  in  the  army, 
though  I  cannot  admit  that  he  is  braver  than  some 
other  people  whom  I  could  mention.  Still  he  is 
undoubtedly  a  very  good  leader." 


154 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 


"  And  the  general  next  him?  "  I  asked.  "  Why 
does  he  carry  his  head  all  upon  one  side?  " 

"  That  is  General  Lannes,  and  he  carries  his 
head  upon  his  left  shoulder  because  he  was  shot 
through  the  neck  at  the  siege  of  St.  Jean  de  Arc. 
He  is  a  Gascon,  like  myself,  and  I  fear  that  he  gives 
some  ground  to  those  who  accuse  my  countrymen 
of  being  a  little  talkative  and  quarrelsome.  But 
monsieur  smiles?  " 

"  You  are  mistaken." 

"  I  thought  that  perhaps  something  which  I 
had  said  might  have  amused  monsieur.  I  thought 
that  possibly  he  meant  that  Gascons  really  were 
quarrelsome,  instead  of  being,  as  I  contend,  the 
mildest  race  in  France — an  opinion  which  I  am 
always  ready  to  uphold  in  any  way  which  may  be 
suggested.  But,  as  I  say,  Lannes  is  a  very  valiant 
man,  though,  occasionally,  perhaps,  a  trifle  hot- 
headed. The  next  man  is  Anguereau." 

I  looked  with  interest  upon  the  hero  of  Castig- 
lione,  who  had  taken  command  upon  the  one  oc- 
casion when  Napoleon's  heart  and  spirit  had  failed 
him.  He  was  a  man,  I  should  judge,  who  would 
shine  rather  in  war  than  in  peace,  for,  with  his 


THE   ANTE-ROOM.  i$$ 

long  goat's  face  and  his  brandy  nose,  he  looked, 
in  spite  of  his  golden  oak-leaves,  just  such  a  long- 
legged,  vulgar,  swaggering,  foul-mouthed  old  sol- 
dier as  every  barrack-room  can  show.  He  was 
an  older  man  than  the  others,  and  his  sudden  pro- 
motion had  come  too  late  for  him  to  change.  He 
was  always  the  Corporal  of  the  Prussian  Guard 
under  the  hat  of  the  French  Marshal. 

"  Yes,  yes;  he  is  a  rough  fellow,"  said  Gerard, 
in  answer  to  my  remark.  "  He  is  one  of  those 
whom  the  Emperor  had  to  warn  that  he  wished 
them  to  be  soldiers  only  with  the  army.  He  and 
Rapp  and  Lefebvre,  with  their  big  boots  and  their 
clanking  sabres,  were  too  much  for  the  Empress's 
drawing-room  at  the  Tuileries.  There  is  Van- 
damme,  also,  the  dark  man  with  the  heavy  face. 
Heaven  help  the  English  village  that  he  finds  his 
quarters  in!  It  was  he  who  got  into  trouble  be- 
cause he  broke  the  jaw  of  a  Westphalian  priest  who 
could  not  find  him  a  second  bottle  of  Tokay." 
"  And  that  is  Murat,  I  suppose?  " 
*  Yes;  that  is  Murat  with  the  black  whiskers 
and  the  red,  thick  lips,  and  the  brown  of  Egypt 
upon  his  face.  He  is  the  man  for  me!  My  word, 


156  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

when  you  have  seen  him  raving  in  front  of  a  bri- 
gade of  light  cavalry,  with  his  plumes  tossing  and 
his  sabre  flashing,  you  would  not  wish  to  see  any- 
thing finer.  I  have  known  a  square  of  grenadiers 
break  and  scatter  at  the  very  sight  of  him.  In 
Egypt  the  Emperor  kept  away  from  him,  for  the 
Arabs  would  not  look  at  the  little  General  when 
this  fine  horseman  and  swordsman  was  before 
them.  In  my  opinion  Lasalle  is  the  better  light 
cavalry  officer,  but  there  is  no  one  whom  the  men 
will  follow  as  they  do  Murat." 

"  And  who  is  the  stern-looking  man,  leaning 
on  the  Oriental  sword?  " 

"  Oh,  that  is  Soult !  He  is  the  most  obsti- 
nate man  in  the  world.  He  argues  with  the 
Emperor.  The  handsome  man  beside  him  is 
Junot,  and  Bernadotte  is  leaning  against  the 
tent-pole." 

I  looked  with  interest  at  the  extraordinary  face 
of  this  adventurer,  who,  after  starting  with  a  mus- 
ket and  a  knapsack  in  the  ranks,  was  not  contented 
with  the  baton  of  a  marshal,  but  passed  on  after- 
wards to  grasp  the  sceptre  of  a  king.  And  it  might 
be  said  of  him  that,  unlike  his  fellows,  he  gained 


THE   ANTE-ROOM.  157 

his  throne  in  spite  of  Napoleon  rather  than  by  his 
aid.  Any  man  who  looked  at  his  singular  pro- 
nounced features,  the  swarthiness  of  which  pro- 
claimed his  half  Spanish  origin,  must  have  read  in 
his  flashing  black  eyes  and  in  that  huge  aggressive 
nose  that  he  was  reserved  for  a  strange  destiny. 
Of  all  the  fierce  and  masterful  men  who  surrounded 
the  Emperor  there  was  none  with  greater  gifts,  and 
none,  also,  whose  ambitions  he  more  distrusted, 
than  those  of  Jules  Bernadotte. 

And  yet,  fierce  and  masterful  as  these  men 
were,  having,  as  Anguereau  boasted,  neither  fear 
of  God  nor  of  the  devil,  there  was  something  which 
thrilled  or  cowed  them  in  the  pale  smile  or  black 
frown  of  the  little  man  who  ruled  them.  For,  as 
I  watched  them,  there  suddenly  came  over  the  as- 
sembly a  start  and  hush  such  as  you  see  in  a  boys' 
school  when  the  master  enters  unexpectedly,  and 
there  near  the  open  doors  of  his  headquarters  stood 
the  master  himself.  Even  without  that  sudden 
silence,  and  the  scramble  to  their  feet  of  those 
upon  the  benches,  I  felt  that  I  should  have  known 
instantly  that  he  was  present.  There  was  a  pale 
luminosity  about  his  ivory  face  which  drew  the 


158  UNCLE   BERN  AC. 

eye  towards  it,  and  though  his  dress  might  be  the 
plainest  of  a  hundred,  his  appearance  would  be  the 
first  which  one  would  notice.  There  he  was,  with 
his  little  plump,  heavy-shouldered  figure,  his  green 
coat  with  the  red  collar  and  cuffs,  his  white,  well- 
formed  legs,  his  sword  with  the  gilt  hilt  and  the 
tortoise-shell  scabbard.  His  head  was  uncovered, 
showing  his  thin  hair  of  a  ruddy  chestnut  colour. 
Under  one  arm  was  the  flat  cocked  hat  with  the 
twopenny  tricolour  rosette,  which  \vas  already  re- 
produced in  his  pictures.  In  his  right  hand  he 
held  a  little  riding  switch  with  a  metal  head.  He 
walked  slowly  forward,  his  face  immutable,  his  eyes 
fixed  steadily  before  him,  measured,  inexorable,  the 
very  personification  of  Destiny. 

"  Admiral  Bruix!" 

I  do  not  know  if  that  voice  thrilled  through 
every  one  as  it  did  through  me.  Never  had  I 
heard  anything  more  harsh,  more  menacing,  more 
sinister.  From  under  his  puckered  brows  his  light 
blue  eyes  glanced  swiftly  round  with  a  sweep  like 
a  sabre. 

"  I  am  here,  Sire!  "  A  dark,  grizzled,  middle- 
aged  man,  in  a  naval  uniform,  had  advanced  from 


THE  ANTE-ROOM. 


159 


the  throng.  Napoleon  took  three  quick  little 
steps  towards  him  in  so  menacing  a  fashion,  that 
I  saw  the  weather-stained  cheeks  of  the  sailor  turn 
a  shade  paler,  and  he  gave  a  helpless  glance  round 
him,  as  if  for  assistance. 

"  How  comes  it,  Admiral  Bruix,"  cried  the 
Emperor,  in  the  same  terrible  rasping  voice,  "  that 
you  did  not  obey  my  commands  last  night?  " 

"  I  could  see  that  a  westerly  gale  was  coming 

up,  Sire.  I  knew  that "  he  could  hardly  speak 

for  his  agitation,  "  I  knew  that  if  the  ships  went 
out  with  this  lee  shore " 

"  What  right  have  you  to  judge,  sir?  "  cried  the 
Emperor  in  a  cold  fury  of  indignation.  "  Do  you 
conceive  that  your  judgment  is  to  be  placed  against 
mine?  " 

"  In  matters  of  navigation,  Sire." 

"  In  no  matters  whatsoever." 

"  But  the  tempest,  Sire!  Did  it  not  prove  me 
to  be  in  the  right?  " 

"What!     You  still  dare  to  bandy  words  with 


me?" 


"  When  I  have  justice  on  my  side." 

There  was  a  hush  amidst  all  the  great  audience; 


l6o  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

such  a  heavy  silence  as  comes  only  when  many 
are  waiting,  and  all  with  bated  breath.  The  Em- 
peror's face  was  terrible.  His  cheeks  were  of  a 
greenish,  livid  tint,  and  there  was  a  singular  rotary 
movement  of  the  muscles  of  his  forehead.  It  was 
the  countenance  of  an  epileptic.  He  raised  the 
whip  to  his  shoulder,  and  took  a  step  towards  the 
admiral. 

"You  insolent  rascal!"  he  hissed.  It  was 
the  Italian  word  coglione  which  he  used,  and  I 
observed  that  as  his  feelings  overcame  him  his 
French  became  more  and  more  that  of  a  for- 
eigner. 

For  a  moment  he  seemed  to  be  about  to  slash 
the  sailor  across  the  face  with  his  whip.  The 
latter  took  a  step  back,  and  clapped  his  hand  to 
his  sword. 

"  Have  a  care,  Sire,"  said  he- 

For  a  few  instants  the  tension  was  terrible. 
Then  Napoleon  brought  the  whip  down  with  a 
sharp  crack  against  his  own  thigh. 

"  Vice-Admiral  Magon,"  he  cried,  "  you  will 
in  future  receive  all  orders  connected  with  the 
fleet.  Admiral  Bruix,  you  will  leave  Boulogne 


THE  ANTE-ROOM.  l6i 

in  twenty-four  hours  and  withdraw  to  Holland. 
Where  is  Lieutenant  Gerard,  of  the  Hussars  of 
Bercheny?  " 

My  companion's  gauntlet  sprang  to  his  busby. 

"  I  ordered  you  to  bring  Monsieur  Louis  de 
Laval  from  the  Castle  of  Grosbois." 

"  Here  he  is,  Sire." 

"  Good!     You  may  retire." 

The  lieutenant  saluted,  whisked  round  upon  his 
heel,  and  clattered  away,  whilst  the  Emperor's  blue 
eyes  were  turned  upon  me.  I  had  often  heard  the 
phrase  of  eyes  looking  through  you,  but  that  pierc- 
ing gaze  did  really  give  one  the  feeling  that 
it  penetrated  to  one's  inmost  thoughts.  But 
the  sternness  had  all  melted  out  of  it,  and  I 
read  a  great  gentleness  and  kindness  in  their  ex- 
pression. 

"  You  have  come  to  serve  me,  Monsieur  de 
Laval?  " 

"  Yes,  Sire." 

"  You  have  been  some  time  in  making  up  your 
mind." 

"  I  was  not  my  own  master,  Sire." 

"  Your  father  was  an  aristocrat?  " 


162  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"  Yes,  Sire." 

"  And  a  supporter  of  the  Bourbons?  " 

"  Yes,  Sire." 

"  You  will  find  that  in  France  now  there  are 
no  aristocrats  and  no  Jacobins;  but  that  we  are 
all  Frenchmen  working  for  the  glory  of  our  coun- 
try. Have  you  seen  Louis  de  Bourbon?  " 

"  I  have  seen  him  once,  Sire." 

"  An  insignificant  looking  man,  is  he  not?  " 

"  No,  Sire,  I  thought  him  a  fine  looking  man." 

For  a  moment  I  saw  a  hard  gleam  of  resent- 
ment in  those  changing  blue  eyes.  Then  he  put 
out  his  hand  and  pinched  one  of  my  ears. 

"  Monsieur  de  Laval  was  not  born  to  be  a 
courtier,"  said  he.  "  Well,  well,  Louis  de  Bour- 
bon will  find  that  he  cannot  gain  a  throne  by  writ- 
ing proclamations  in  London  and  signing  them 
Louis.  For  my  part,  I  found  the  crown  of  France 
lying  upon  the  ground,  and  I  lifted  it  upon  my 
sword-point." 

"  You  have  lifted  Frarice  with  your  sword 
also,  Sire,"  said  Talleyrand,  who  stood  at  his 
elbow. 

Napoleon  looked  at  his  famous  minister,  and 


He  put  out  his  hand  and  pinched  one  of  my  ears. 


THE  ANTE-ROOM.  163 

I  seemed  to  read  suspicion  in  his  eyes.     Then  he 
turned  to  his  secretary. 

"  I  leave  Monsieur  de  Laval  in  your  hands,  de 
Meneval,"  said  he.  "  I  desire  to  see  him  in  the 
council  chamber  after  the  inspection  of  the  artil- 
lery." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    SECRETARY. 

EMPEROR,  generals,  and  officials  all  streamed 
away  to  the  review,  leaving  me  with  a  gentle-look- 
ing, large-eyed  man  in  a  black  suit  with  very  white 
cambric  ruffles,  who  introduced  himself  to  me  as 
Monsieur  de  Meneval,  private  secretary  to  His 
Majesty. 

"  We  must  get  some  food,  Monsieur  de  Laval," 
said  he.  "  It  is  always  well,  if  you  have  anything 
to  do  with  the  Emperor,  to  get  your  food  when- 
ever you  have  the  chance.  It  may  be  many  hours 
before  he  takes  a  meal,  and  if  you  are  in  his 
presence  you  have  to  fast  also.  I  assure  you  that 
I  have  nearly  fainted  from  hunger  and  from 
thirst." 

"  But  how  does  the  Emperor  manage  him- 
self? "  I  asked.  This  Monsieur  de  Meneval  had 
such  a  kindly  human  appearance  that  I  already  felt 

much  at  my  ease  with  him. 

164 


THE   SECRETARY.  165 

"  Oh,  he,  he  is  a  man  of  iron,  Monsieur  de 
Laval.  We  must  not  set  our  watches  by  his.  I 
have  known  him  work  for  eighteen  hours  on  end 
and  take  nothing  but  a  cup  or  two  of  coffee.  He 
wears  everybody  out  around  him.  Even  the 
soldiers  cannot  keep  up  with  him.  I  assure  you 
that  I  look  upon  it  as  the  very  highest  honour  to 
have  charge  of  his  papers,  but  there  are  times 
when  it  is  very  trying  all  the  same.  Sometimes 
it  is  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  Monsieur  de  Laval, 
and  I  am  writing  to  his  dictation  with  my  head 
aching  for  want  of  sleep.  It  is  dreadful  work,  for 
he  dictates  as  quickly  as  he  can  talk,  and  he  never 
repeats  anything.  'Now,  Meneval,'  says  he  sud- 
denly, '  we  shall  stop  here  and  have  a  good  night's 
rest.'  And  then,  just  as  I  am  congratulating  my- 
self he  adds,  '  and  we  shall  continue  with  the  dic- 
tation at  three  to-morrow  morning.'  That  is  what 
he  means  by  a  good  night's  rest." 

"  But  has  he  no  hours  for  his  meals,  Monsieur 
de  Meneval?  "  I  asked,  as  I  accompanied  the  un- 
happy secretary  out  of  the  tent. 

"  Oh,  yes,  he  has  hours,  but  he  will  not  ob- 
serve them.  You  see  that  it  is  already  long  after 


1 66  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

dinner  time,  but  he  has  gone  to  this  review.  After 
the  review  something  else  will  probably  take  up 
his  attention,  and  then  something  else,  until  sud- 
denly in  the  evening  it  will  occur  to  him  that  he 
has  had  no  dinner.  '  My  dinner,  Constant,  this  in- 
stant ! '  he  will  cry,  and  poor  Constant  has  to  see 
that  it  is  there." 

"  But  it  must  be  unfit  to  eat  by  that  time/' 
said  I. 

The  secretary  laughed  in  the  discreet  way  of  a 
man  who  has  always  been  obliged  to  control  his 
emotions. 

"  This  is  the  Imperial  kitchen,"  said  he,  indi- 
cating a  large  tent  just  outside  the  headquarters. 
"  Here  is  Borel,  the  second  cook,  at  the  door. 
How  many  pullets  to-day,  Borel?" 

"  Ah,  Monsieur  de  Meneval,  it  is  heartrending," 
cried  the  cook.  "Behold  them!"  and  drawing 
back  the  flap  of  the  entrance,  he  showed  us  seven 
dishes,  each  of  them  containing  a  cold  fowl.  "  The 
eighth  is  now  on  the  fire  and  done  to  a  turn,  but  I 
hear  that  his  Majesty  has  started  for  the  review, 
so  we  must  put  on  a  ninth." 

"  That  is  how  it  is  managed,"  said  my  com- 


THE  SECRETARY.  167 

panion,  as  we  turned  from  the  tent.  "  I  have 
known  twenty-three  fowls  got  ready  for  him  be- 
fore he  asked  for  his  meal.  That  day  he  called 
for  his  dinner  at  eleven  at  night.  He  cares  little 
what  he  eats  or  drinks,  but  he  will  not  be  kept 
waiting.  Half  a  bottle  of  Chambertin,  a  red  mul- 
let, or  a  pullet  a  la  Marengo  satisfy  every  need,  but 
it  is  unwise  to  put  pastry  or  cream  upon  the 
table,  because  he  is  as  likely  as  not  to  eat  it  be- 
fore the  fowl.  Ah,  that  is  a  curious  sight,  is  it 
not?" 

I  had  halted  with  an  exclamation  of  astonish- 
ment. A  groom  was  cantering  a  very  beautiful 
Arab  horse  down  one  of  the  lanes  between  the 
tents.  As  it  passed,  a  grenadier  who  was  stand- 
ing with  a  small  pig  under  his  arm  hurled  it  down 
under  the  feet  of  the  horse.  The  pig  squealed 
vigorously  and  scuttled  away,  but  the  horse  can- 
tered on  without  changing  its  step. 

"  What  does  that  mean?  "  I  asked. 

"  That  is  Jardin,  the  head  groom,  breaking  in 
a  charger  for  the  Emperor's  use.  They  are  first 
trained  by  having  a  cannon  fired  in  their  ears, 
then  they  are  struck  suddenly  by  heavy  objects, 


12 


!68  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

and  finally  they  have  the  test  of  the  pig  being 
thrown  under  their  feet.  The  Emperor  has  not 
a  very  firm  seat,  and  he  very  often  loses  himself 
in  a  reverie  when  he  is  riding,  so  it  might  not  be 
very  safe  if  the  horse  were  not  well  trained.  Do 
you  see  that  young  man  asleep  at  the  door  of  a 
tent?  " 

"  Yes,  I  see  him." 

"  You  would  not  think  that  he  is  at  the  pres- 
ent moment  serving  the  Emperor?  " 

"  It  seems  a  very  easy  service." 

"  I  wish  all  our  services  were  as  easy,  Mon- 
sieur de  Laval.  That  is  Joseph  Linden,  whose 
foot  is  the  exact  size  of  the  Emperor's.  He  wears 
his  new  boots  and  shoes  for  three  days  before 
they  are  given  to  his  master.  You  can  see  by 
the  gold  buckles  that  he  has  a  pair  on  at  the 
present  moment.  Ah,  Monsieur  de  Caulain- 
court,  will  you  not  join  us  at  dinner  in  my 
tent?" 

A  tall,  handsome  man,  very  elegantly  dressed, 
came  across  and  greeted  us.  "  It  is  rare  to  find 
you  at  rest,  Monsieur  de  Meneval.  I  have  no 
very  light  task  myself  as  head  of  the  household, 


THE   SECRETARY. 


l6g 


but  I  think  I  have  more  leisure  than  you. 
Have  we  time  for  dinner  before  the  Emperor 
returns?  " 

"Yes,  yes;  here  is  the  tent,  and  everything 
ready.  We  can  see  when  the  Emperor  returns, 
and  be  in  the  room  before  he" can  reach  it.  This 
is  camp  fare,  Monsieur  de  Laval,  but  no  doubt  you 
will  excuse  it." 

For  my  own  part  I  had  an  excellent  appetite 
for  the  cutlets  and  the  salad,  but  what  I  relished 
above  all  was  to  hear  the  talk  of  my  companions, 
for  I  was  full  of  curiosity  as  to  everything  which 
concerned  this  singular  man,  whose  genius  had 
elevated  him  so  rapidly  to  the  highest  position  in 
the  world.  The  head  of  his  household  discussed 
him  with  an  extraordinary  frankness. 

"  What  do  they  say  of  him  in  England,  Mon- 
sieur de  Laval?  "  he  asked. 

"  Nothing  very  good." 

"So  I  have  gathered  from  their  papers.  They 
drive  the  Emperor  frantic,  and  yet  he  will  insist 
upon  reading  them.  I  am  willing  to  lay  a  wager 
that  the  very  first  thing  which  he  does  when  he 
enters  London  will  be  to  send  cavalry  detachments 


UNCLE   EERNAC. 

to  the  various  newspaper  offices,  and  to  endeavour 
to  seize  the  editors." 

"And  the  next?" 

"  And  next,"  said  he,  laughing,  "  will  be  to 
issue  a  long  proclamation  to  prove  that  we  have 
conquered  England  entirely  for  the  good  of  the 
English,  and  very  much  against  our  own  inclina- 
tions. And  then,  perhaps,  the  Emperor  will  allow 
the  English  to  understand  that,  if  they  absolutely 
demand  a  Protestant  for  a  ruler,  it  is  possible  that 
there  are  a  few  little  points  in  which  he  differs 
from  Holy  Church." 

"  Too  bad !  Too  bad !  "  cried  de  Meneval,  look- 
ing amused  and  yet  rather  frightened  at  his  com- 
panion's audacity.  "  No  doubt  for  state  reasons 
the  Emperor  had  to  tamper  a  little  with  Mahom- 
medanism,  and  I  daresay  he  would  attend  this 
Church  of  St.  Paul's  as  readily  as  he  did  the 
Mosque  at  Cairo;  but  it  would  not  do  for  a  ruler 
to  be  a  bigot.  After  all,  the  Emperor  has  to  think 
for  all." 

"  He  thinks  too  much,"  said  Caulaincourt 
gravely.  "  He  thinks  so  much  that  other  people 
in  France  are  getting  out  of  the  way  of  thinking 


THE  SECRETARY.  j^! 

at  all.  You  know  what  I  mean,  de  Meneval,  for 
you  have  seen  it  as  much  as  I  have." 

"  Yes,  yes,"  answered  the  secretary.  "  He  cer- 
tainly does  not  encourage  originality  among  those 
who  surround  him.  I  have  heard  him  say  many 
a  time  that  he  desired  nothing  but  mediocrity, 
which  was  a  poor  compliment,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, to  us  who  have  the  honour  of  serving 
him." 

"  A  clever  man  at  his  Court  shows  his  clever- 
ness best  by  pretending  to  be  dull,"  said  Caulain- 
court,  with  some  bitterness. 

"  And  yet  there  are  many  famous  characters 
there,"  I  remarked. 

"  If  so,  it  is  only  by  concealing  their  characters 
that  they  remain  there.  His  ministers  are  clerks, 
his  generals  are  superior  aides-de-camp.  They  are 
all  agents.  You  have  this  wonderful  man  in  the 
middle,  and  all  around  you  have  so  many  mirrors 
which  reflect  different  sides  of  him.  In  one  you 
see  him  as  a  financier,  and  you  call  it  Lebrun. 
In  another  you  have  him  as  a  gens  d'arme,  and 
you  name  it  Savary  or  Fouche.  In  yet  another 
he  figures  as  a  diplomatist,  and  is  called  Talley- 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 

rand.  You  see  different  figures,  but  it  is  really 
the  same  man.  There  is  a  Monsieur  de  Caulain- 
court,  for  example,  who  arranges  the  household; 
but  he  cannot  dismiss  a  servant  without  permis- 
sion. It  is  still  always  the  Emperor.  And  he 
plays  upon  us.  We  must  confess,  de  Meneval, 
that  he  plays  upon  us.  In  nothing  else  do  I  see 
so  clearly  his  wonderful  cleverness.  He  will  not 
let  us  be  too  friendly  lest  we  combine.  He  has 
set  his  Marshals  against  each  other  until  there  are 
hardly  two  of  them  on  speaking  terms.  Look 
how  Davoust  hates  Bernadotte,  or  Lannes  and 
Bessieres,  or  Ney  and  Massena.  It  is  all  they  can 
do  to  keep  their  sabres  in  their  sheaths  when  they 
meet.  And  then  he  knows  our  weak  points. 
Savary's  thirst  for  money,  Cambacere's  vanity, 
Duroc's  bluntness,  Berthier's  foolishness,  Maret's 
insipidity,  Talleyrand's  mania  for  speculation,  they 
are  all  so  many  tools  in  his  hand.  I  do  not  know 
what  my  own  greatest  weakness  may  be,  but  I  am 
sure  that  he  does,  and  that  he  uses  his  knowledge." 

"But  how  he  must  work!"  I  exclaimed. 

"  Ah,  you  may  say  so,"  said  de  Meneval. 
"What  energy!  Eighteen  hours  out  of  twenty- 


THE   SECRETARY. 


173 


four  for  weeks  on  end.  He  has  presided  over  the 
legislative  council  until  they  were  fainting  at  their 
desks.  As  to  me,  he  will  be  the  death  of  me,  just 
as  he  wore  out  de  Bourienne;  but  I  will  die  at 
my  post  without  a  murmur,  for  if  he  is  hard  upon 
us  he  is  hard  upon  himself  also." 

"  He  was  the  man  for  France/'  said  de  Caulain- 
court.  "  He  is  the  very  genius  of  system  and  of 
order,  and  of  discipline.  When  one  remembers 
the  chaos  in  which  our  poor  country  found  itself 
after  the  Revolution,  when  no  one  would  be  gov- 
erned and  everyone  wanted  to  govern  someone 
else,  you  will  understand  that  only  Napoleon  could 
have  saved  us.  We  were  all  longing  for  some- 
thing fixed  to  secure  ourselves  to,  and  then  we 
came  upon  this  iron  pillar  of  a  man.  And  what 
a  man  he  was  in  those  days,  Monsieur  de  Laval! 
You  see  him  now  when  he  has  got  all  that  he  can 
want.  He  is  good  humoured  and  easy.  But  at 
that  time  he  had  got  nothing,  but  coveted  every- 
thing. His  glance  frightened  women.  He  walked 
the  streets  like  a  wolf.  People  looked  after  him 
as  he  passed.  His  face  was  quite  different — it  was 
cra£gy>  hollow-cheeked,  with  an  oblique  menacing 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 

gaze,  and  the  jaws  of  a  pike.  Oh,  yes,  this  little 
Lieutenant  Buonaparte  from  the  Military  School 
of  Brienne  was  a  singular  figure.  '  There  is  a  man/ 
said  I,  when  I  saw  him,  '  who  will  sit  upon  a  throne 
or  kneel  upon  a  scaffold.'  And  now  look  at  him!  " 

"  And  that  is  ten  years  ago,"  I  exclaimed. 

"  Only  ten  years,  and  they  have  brought  him 
from  a  barrack-room  to  the  Tuileries.  But  he  was 
born  for  it.  You  could  not  keep  him  down.  De 
Bourienne  told  me  that  when  he  was  a  little  fellow 
at  Brienne  he  had  the  grand  Imperial  manner, 
and  would  praise  or  blame,  glare  or  smile,  exactly 
as  he  does  now.  Have  you  seen  his  mother,  Mon- 
sieur de  Laval?  She  is  a  tragedy  queen,  tall,  stern, 
reserved,  silent.  There  is  the  spring  from  which 
he  flowed." 

I  could  see  in  the  gentle,  spaniel-eyes  of  the 
secretary  that  he  was  disturbed  by  the  frankness 
of  de  Caulaincourt's  remarks. 

"  You  can  tell  that  we  do  not  live  under  a  very 
terrible  tyranny,  Monsieur  de  Laval,"  said  he,  "  or 
we  should  hardly  venture  to  discuss  our  ruler  so 
frankly.  The  fact  is  that  we  have  said  nothing 
which  he  would  not  have  listened  to  with  pleasure 


THE   SECRETARY. 


175 


and  perhaps  with  approval.  He  has  his  little  frail- 
ties, or  he  would  not  be  human,  but  take  his  quali- 
ties as  a  ruler  and  I  would  ask  you  if  there  has 
ever  been  a  man  who  has  justified  the  choice  of  a 
nation  so  completely.  He  works  harder  than  any 
of  his  subjects.  He  is  a  general  beloved  by  his 
soldiers.  He  is  a  master  beloved  by  his  servants. 
He  never  has  a  holiday,  and  he  is  always  ready  for 
his  work.  There  is  not  under  the  roof  of  the 
Tuileries  a  more  abstemious  eater  or  drinker.  He 
educated  his  brothers  at  his  own  expense  when 
he  was  a  very  poor  man,  and  he  has  caused  even 
his  most  distant  relatives  to  share  in  his  prosper- 
ity. In  a  word,  he  is  economical,  hard-working, 
and  temperat^.  We  read  in  the  London  papers 
about  this  Prince  of  Wales,  Monsieur  de  Laval, 
and  I  do  not  think  that  he  comes  very  well  out  of 
the  comparison." 

I  thought  of  the  long  record  of  Brighton  scan- 
dals, London  scandals,  Newmarket  scandals,  and 
I  had  to  leave  George  undefended. 

"As  I  understand  it,"  said  I,  "it  is  not  the 
Emperor's  private  life,  but  his  public  ambition, 
that  the  English  attack." 


1^6  UNCLE   BERN  AC. 

"  The  fact  is,"  said  de  Caulaincourt,  "  that  the 
Emperor  knows,  and  we  all  know,  that  there  is  not 
room  enough  in  the  world  for  both  France  and 
England.  One  or  other  must  be  supreme.  If 
England  were  once  crushed  we  could  then  lay  the 
foundations  of  a  permanent  peace.  Italy  is  ours. 
Austria  we  can  crush  again  as  we  have  crushed  her 
before.  Germany  is  divided.  Russia  can  expand 
to  the  south  and  east.  America  we  can  take  at  our 
leisure,  finding  our  pretext  in  Louisiana  or  in 
Canada.  There  is  a  world  Empire  waiting  for  us, 
and  there  is  the  only  thing  that  stops  us."  He 
pointed  out  through  the  opening  of  the  tent  at 
the  broad  blue  Channel. 

Far  away,  like  snow-white  gulls  in  the  distance, 
were  the  sails  of  the  blockading  fleet.  I  thought 
again  of  what  I  had  seen  the  night  before — the 
lights  of  the  ships  upon  the  sea  and  the  glow  of 
the  camp  upon  the  shore.  The  powers  of  the 
land  and  of  the  ocean  were  face  to  face  whilst  a 
waiting  world  stood  round  to  see  what  would 
come  of  it. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   MAN    OF   ACTION. 

DE  MENEVAL'S  tent  had  been  pitched  in  such 
a  way  that  he  could  overlook  the  Royal  headquar- 
ters, but  whether  it  was  that  we  were  too  absorbed 
in  the  interest  of  our  conversation,  or  that  the 
Emperor  had  used  the  other  entrance  in  returning 
from  the  review,  we  were  suddenly  startled  by  the 
appearance  of  a  captain  dressed  in  the  green  jacket 
of  the  Chasseurs  of  the  Guard,  who  had  come  to 
say  that  Napoleon  was  waiting  for  his  secretary. 
Poor  de  Meneval's  face  turned  as  white  as  his 
beautiful  ruffles  as  he  sprang  to  his  feet,  hardly 
able  to  speak  for  agitation. 

"  I  should  have  been  there!  "  he  gasped.  "  Oh, 
what  a  misfortune!  Monsieur  de  Caulaincourt, 
you  must  excuse  me!  Where  is  my  hat  and  my 
sword?  Come,  Monsieur  de  Laval,  not  an  instant 

is  to  be  lost!" 

177 


j;g  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

I  could  judge  from  the  terror  of  de  Meneval, 
as  well  as  from  the  scene  which  I  had  witnessed 
with  Admiral  Bruix,  what  the  influence  was  which 
the  Emperor  exercised  over  those  who  were 
around  him.  They  were  never  at  their  ease,  al- 
ways upon  the  brink  of  a  catastrophe,  encouraged 
one  day  only  to  be  rudely  rebuffed  the  next,  bullied 
in  public  and  slighted  in  private,  and  yet,  in  spite 
of  it  all,  the  singular  fact  remains  that  they  loved 
him  and  served  him  as  no  monarch  has  been  loved 
and  served. 

"  Perhaps  I  had  best  stay  here,"  said  I,  when 
we  had  come  to  the  ante-chamber,  which  was  still 
crowded  with  people. 

"  No,  no,  I  am  responsible  for  you.  You  must 
come  with  me.  Oh,  I  trust  he  is  not  offended  with 
me!  How  could  he  have  got  in  without  my  seeing 
him?  " 

My  frightened  companion  scratched  at  the 
door,  which  was  opened  instantly  by  Roustem  the 
Mameluke,  who  guarded  it  within.  The  room  into 
which  we  passed  was  of  considerable  size,  but  was 
furnished  with  extreme  simplicity.  It  was  papered 
of  a  silver-grey  colour,  with  a  sky-blue  ceiling,  in 


THE    MAN   OF   ACTION. 


179 


the  centre  of  which  was  the  Imperial  eagle  in  gold, 
holding  a  thunderbolt.  In  spite  of  the  warm 
weather,  a  large  fire  was  burning  at  one  side,  and 
the  air  was  heavy  with  heat  and  the  aromatic 
smell  of  aloes.  In  the  middle  of  the  room  was  a 
large  oval  table  covered  with  green  cloth  and 
littered  with  a  number  of  letters  and  papers.  A 
raised  writing-desk  was  at  one  side  of  the  table, 
and  behind  it  in  a  green  morocco  chair  with  curved 
arms  there  sat  the  Emperor.  A  number  of  officials 
were  standing  round  the  walls,  but  he  took  no 
notice  of  them.  In  his  hand  he  had  a  small  pen- 
knife, with  which  he  whittled  the  wooden  knob  at 
the  end  of  his  chair.  He  glanced  up  as  we  entered, 
and  shook  his  head  coldly  at  de  Meneval. 

"  I  have  had  to  wait  for  you,  Monsieur  de 
Meneval,"  said  he.  "  I  cannot  remember  that  I 
ever  waited  for  my  late  secretary  de  Bourienne. 
That  is  enough!  No  excuses!  Take  this  report 
which  I  have  written  in  your  absence,  and  make 
a  copy  of  it." 

Poor  de  Meneval  took  the  paper  with  a  shak- 
ing hand,  and  carried  it  to  the  little  side  table 
which  was  reserved  for  his  use.  Napoleon  rose 


180  UNCLE   BERXAC. 

and  paced  slowly  up  and  down  the  room  with  his 
hands  behind  his  back,  and  his  big  round  head 
stooping  a  little  forwards.  It  was  certainly  as  well 
that  he  had  a  secretary,  for  I  observed  that  in  writ- 
ing this  single  document  he  had  spattered  the 
whole  place  with  ink,  and  it  was  obvious  that  he 
had  twice  used  his  white  kerseymere  knee-breeches 
as  a  pen-wiper.  As  for  me,  I  stood  quietly  beside 
Roustem  at  the  door,  and  he  took  not  the  slight- 
est notice  of  my  presence. 

"Well,"  he  cried  presently,  "  is  it  ready,  de 
Meneval?  We  have  something  more  to  do." 

The  secretary  half  turned  in  his  chair,  and  his 
face  was  more  agitated  than  ever. 

"  If  it  please  you,  Sire "  he  stammered. 

"  Well,  well,  what  is  the  matter  now?  " 

"  If  it  please  you,  Sire,  I  find  some  little  diffi- 
culty in  reading  what  you  have  written." 

"  Tut,  tut,  sir.  You  see  what  the  report  is 
about." 

"  Yes,  Sire,  it  is  about  forage  for  the  cavalry 
horses." 

Napoleon  smiled,  and  the  action  made  his  face 
look  quite  boyish. 


THE    MAN   OF   ACTION. 


183 


would  not  now  be  living  amidst  the  fogs  of  Eng- 
land." 

"  One  must  have  your  Majesty's  memory  in 
order  to  do  it,"  I  observed. 

"  It  is  the  result  of  system,"  said  he.  "  It  is 
as  if  I  had  drawers  in  my  brain,  so  that  when  I 
opened  one  I  could  close  the  others.  It  is  seldom 
that  I  fail  to  find  what  I  want  there.  I  have  a 
poor  memory  for  names  or  dates,  but  an  excellent 
one  for  facts  or  faces.  There  is  a  good  deal  to 
bear  in  mind,  Monsieur  de  Laval.  For  example, 
I  have  as  you  have  seen,  my  one  little  drawer  full 
of  the  ships  upon  the  sea.  I  have  another  which 
contains  all  the  harbours  and  forts  of  France.  As 
an  example,  I  may  tell  you  that  when  my  minister 
of  war  was  reading  me  a  report  of  all  the  coast 
defences,  I  was  able  to  point  out  to  him  that  he 
had  omitted  two  guns  in  a  battery  near  Ostend. 
In  yet  another  of  my  brain-drawers  I  have  the 
regiments  of  France.  Is  that  drawer  in  order, 
Marshal  Berthier?  " 

A  clean-shaven  man,  who  had  stood  biting  his 
nails  in  the  window,  bowed  at  the  Emperor's  ques- 
tion. 

13 


1 84  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"  I  am  sometimes  tempted  to  believe,  Sire,  that 
you  know  the  name  of  every  man  in  the  ranks," 
said  he. 

"  I  think  that  I  know  most  of  my  old  Egyptian 
grumblers,"  said  he.  "  And  then,  Monsieur  de 
Laval,  there  is  another  drawer  for  canals,  bridges, 
roads,  manufactures,  and  every  detail  of  internal 
administration.  The  law,  finance,  Italy,  the  Colo- 
nies, Holland,  all  these  things  demand  drawers 
of  their  own.  In  these  days,  Monsieur  de  Laval, 
France  asks  something  more  of  its  ruler  than  that 
he  should  carry  eight  yards  of  ermine  with  dig- 
nity, or  ride  after  a  stag  in  the  forest  of  Fontaine- 
bleau." 

I  thought  of  the  helpless,  gentle,  pompous 
Louis  whom  my  father  had  once  taken  me  to 
visit,  and  I  understood  that  France,  after  her  con- 
vulsions and  her  sufferings,  did  indeed  require  an- 
other and  a  stronger  head. 

"  Do  you  not  think  so,  Monsieur  de  Laval?  " 
asked  the  Emperor.  He  had  halted  for  a  moment 
by  the  fire,  and  was  grinding  his  dainty  gold- 
buckled  shoe  into  one  of  the  burning  logs. 

"  You  have  come  to  a  very  wise  decision,"  said 


THE   MAN   OF  ACTION.  185 

he  when  I  had  answered  his  question.  "  But  you 
have  always  been  of  this  way  of  thinking,  have 
you  not?  Is  it  not  true  that  you  once  defended 
me  when  some  young  Englishman  was  drink- 
ing toasts  to  my  downfall  at  an  inn  in  this  village 
in  which  you  lived?  " 

I  remembered  the  incident,  although  I  could 
not  imagine  how  it  had  reached  his  ears. 

"  Why  should  you  have  done  this?  " 

"  I  did  it  on  impulse,  Sire." 

"  On  impulse!  ".he  cried,  in  a  tone  of  contempt. 
"  I  do  not  know  what  people  mean  when  they  say 
that  they  do  things  upon  impulse.  In  Charenton 
things  are  doubtless  done  upon  impulse,  but  not 
amongst  sane  people.  Why  should  you  risk  your 
life  over  there  in  defending  me  when  at  the  time 
you  had  nothing  to  hope  for  from  me?  " 

"  It  was  because  I  felt  that  you  stood  for 
France,  Sire." 

During  this  conversation  he  had  still  walked 
up  and  down  the  room,  twisting  his  right  arm 
about,  and  occasionally  looking  at  one  or  other  of 
us  with  his  eyeglass,  for  his  sight  was  so  weak 
that  he  always  needed  a  single  glass  indoors  and 


186  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

binoculars  outside.  Sometimes  he  stopped  and 
helped  himself  to  great  pinches  of  snuff  from  a 
tortoise-shell  box,  but  I  observed  that  none  of  it 
ever  reached  his  nose,  for  he  dropped  it  all  from 
between  his  ringers  on  to  his  waistcoat  and  the 
floor.  My  answer  seemed  to  please  him,  for  he 
suddenly  seized  my  ear  and  pulled  it  with  con- 
siderable violence. 

'  You  are  quite  right,  my  friend,"  said  he.  "  I 
stand  for  France  just  as  Frederic  II.  stood  for 
Prussia.  I  will  make  her  the  great  Power  of  the 
world,  so  that  every  monarch  in  Europe  will  find 
it  necessary  to  keep  a  palace  in  Paris,  and  they 
will  all  come  to  hold  the  train  at  the  coronation  of 

my  descendants "     A  spasm  of  pain  passed 

suddenly  over  his  face.  "  My  God!  for  whom  am 
I  building?  Who  will  be  my  descendants? "  I 
heard  him  mutter,  and  he  passed  his  hand  over 
his  forehead. 

"  Do  they  seem  frightened  in  England  about 
my  approaching  invasion?"  he  asked  suddenly. 
"  Have  you  heard  them  express  fears  lest  I  get 
across  the  Channel?  " 

I  was  forced  in  truth  to  say  that  the  only  fears 


THE   MAN  OF   ACTION. 


IS/ 


which  I  had  ever  heard  expressed  were  lest  he 
should  not  get  across. 

"  The  soldiers  are  very  jealous  that  the  sailors 
should  always  have  the  honour,"  said  I. 
"  But  they  have  a  very  small  army." 
"  Nearly  every  man  is  a  volunteer,  Sire." 
"  Pooh,  conscripts!  "  he  cried,  and  made  a  mo- 
tion with  his  hands  as  if  to  sweep  them  from  be- 
fore him.  "  I  will  land  with  a  hundred  thousand 
men  in  Kent  or  in  Sussex.  I  will  fight  a  great 
battle  which  I  will  win  with  a  loss  of  ten  thousand 
men.  On  the  third  day  I  shall  be  in  London.  I 
will  seize  the  statesmen,  the  bankers,  the  mer- 
chants, the  newspaper  men.  I  will  impose  an  in- 
demnity of  a  hundred  million  of  their  pounds.  I 
will  favour  the  poor  at  the  expense  of  the  rich, 
and  so  I  shall  have  a  party.  I  will  detach  Scotland 
and  Ireland  by  giving  them  constitutions  which 
will  put  them  in  a  superior  condition  to  England. 
Thus  I  will  sow  dissensions  everywhere.  Then 
as  a  price  for  leaving  the  island  I  will  claim  their 
fleet  and  their  colonies.  In  this  way  I  shall  secure 
the  command  of  the  world  to  France  for  at  least 
a  century  to  come." 


1 38  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

In  this  short  sketch  I  could  perceive  the  qual- 
ity which  I  have  since  heard  remarked  in  Napo- 
leon, that  his  mind  could  both  conceive  a  large 
scheme,  and  at  the  same  time  evolve  those  prac- 
tical details  which  would  seem  to  bring  it  within 
the  bounds  of  possibility.  One  instant  it  would 
be  a  wild  dream  of  overrunning  the  East.  The 
next  it  was  a  schedule  of  the  ships,  the  ports,  the 
stores,  the  troops,  which  would  be  needed  to  turn 
dream  into  fact.  He  gripped  the  heart  of  a  ques- 
tion with  the  same  decision  which  made  him  strike 
straight  for  an  enemy's  capital.  The  soul  of  a 
poet,  and  the  mind  of  a  man  of  business  of  the 
first  order,  that  is  the  combination  which  may 
make  a  man  dangerous  to  the  world. 

V 

I  think  that  it  may  have  been  his  purpose — 
for  he  never  did  anything  without  a  purpose — to 
give  me  an  object-lesson  of  his  own  capacity  for 
governing,  with  the  idea,  perhaps,  that  I  might  in 
turn  influence  others  of  the  Emigres  by  what  I 
told  them.  At  any  rate  he  left  me  there  to  stand 
and  to  watch  the  curious  succession  of  points  upon 
which  he  had  to  give  an  opinion  during  a  few 
hours.  Nothing  seemed  to  be  either  too  large  or 


THE  MAN  OF  ACTION.  189 

too  small  for  that  extraordinary  mind.  At  one 
instant  it  was  the  arrangements  for  the  winter 
cantonments  of  two  hundred  thousand  men,  at  the 
next  he  was  discussing  with  de  Caulaincourt  the 
curtailing  of  the  expenses  of  the  household,  and 
the  possibility  of  suppressing  some  of  the  car- 
riages. 

"  It  is  my  desire  to  be  economical  at  home  so 
as  to  make  a  good  show  abroad/'  said  he.  "  For 
myself,  when  I  had  the  honour  to  be  a  sub-lieu- 
tenant I  found  that  I  could  live  very  well  upon 
1,200  francs  a  year,  and  it  would  be  no  hardship 
to  me  to  go  back  to  it.  This  extravagance  of  the 
palace  must  be  stopped.  For  example,  I  see  upon 
your  accounts  that  155  cups  of  coffee  are  drunk  a 
day,  which  with  sugar  at  4  francs  and  coffee  at 
5  francs  a  pound  come  to  20  sous  a  cup.  It  would 
be  better  to  make  an  allowance  for  coffee.  The 
stable  bills  are  also  too  high.  At  the  present  price 
of  fodder  seven  or  eight  francs  a  week  should  be 
enough  for  each  horse  in  a  stable  of  two  hundred. 
I  will  not  have  any  waste  at  the  Tuileries." 

Thus  within  a  few  minutes  he  would  pass  from 
a  question  of  milliards  to  a  question  of  sous,  and 


190  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

from  the  management  of  an  empire  to  that  of  a 
stable.  From  time  to  time  I  could  observe  that 
he  threw  a  little  oblique  glance  at  me  as  if  to  ask 
what  I  thought  of  it  all,  and  at  the  time  I  wondered 
very  much  why  my  approval  should  be  of  any 
consequence*. to  him.  But  now,  when  I  look  back 
and  see  that  my  following  his  fortunes  brought 
over  so  many  others  of  the  young  nobility,  I 
understand  that  he  saw  very  much  further  than 
I  did. 

"  Well,  Monsieur  de  Laval,'*  said  he  suddenly, 
"you  have  seen  something  of  my  methods.  Are 
you  prepared  to  enter  my  service?  " 

"  Assuredly,  Sire,"  I  answered. 

"  I  can  be  a  very  hard  master  when  I  like," 
said  he,  smiling.  '  You  were  there  when  I  spoke 
to  Admiral  Bruix.  We  have  all  our  duty  to  do, 
and  discipline  is  as  necessary  in  the  highest  as  in 
the  lowest  ranks.  But  anger  with  me  never  rises 
above  here,"  and  he  drew  his  hand  across  his 
throat.  "  I  never  permit  it  to  cloud  my  brain. 
Dr.  Corvisart  here  would  tell  you  that  I  have  the 
slowest  pulse  of  all  his  patients." 

"  And  that  you  are  the  fastest  eater,  Sire,"  said 


THE   MAN   OF   ACTION.  igi 

a  large-faced,  benevolent-looking  person  who  had 
been  whispering  to  Marshal  Berthier. 

"  Ohe,  you  rascal,  you  rake  that  up  against 
me,  do  you?  The  Doctor  will  not  forgive  me  be- 
cause I  tell  him  when  I  am  unwell  that  I  had 
rather  die  of  the  disease  than  of  the  remedies. 
If  I  eat  too  fast  it  is  the  fault  of  the  State,  which 
does  not  allow  me  more  than  a  few  minutes  for 
my  meals.  Which  reminds  me  that  it  must  be 
rather  after  my  dinner  hour,  Constant?  " 

"  It  is  four  hours  after  it,  Sire." 

"  Serve  it  up  then  at  once." 

'  Yes,  Sire.  Monsieur  Isabey  is  outside,  Sire, 
with  his  dolls." 

"Ah,  we  shall  see  them  at  once.     Show  him 


in." 


A  man  entered  who  had  evidently  just  arrived 
from  a  long  journey.  Under  his  arm  he  carried  a 
large  flat  wickerwork  basket. 

"  It  is  two  days  since  I  sent  for  you,  Monsieur 
Isabey." 

'  The  courier  arrived  yesterday,  Sire.  I  have 
been  travelling  from  Paris  ever  since." 

"Have  you  the  models  there?" 


ig2  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

"Yes,  Sire." 

"  Then  you  may  lay  them  out  on  that  table." 
I  could  not  at  first  imagine  what  it  meant 
when  I  saw,  upon  Isabey  opening  his  basket,  that 
it  was  crammed  with  little  puppets  about  a  foot 
high,  all  of  them  dressed  in  the  most  gorgeous  silk 
and  velvet  costumes,  with  trimmings  of  ermine 
and  hangings  of  gold  lace.  But  presently,  as  the 
designer  took  them  out  one  by  one  and  placed 
them  on  the  table,  I  understood  that  the  Emperor, 
with  his  extraordinary  passion  for  detail  and  for 
directly  controlling  everything  in  his  Court,  had 
had  these  dolls  dressed  in  order  to  judge  the  effect 
of  the  gorgeous  costumes  which  had  been  ordered 
for  his  grand  functionaries  upon  State  occasions. 
"  What  is  this?  "  he  asked,  holding  up  a  little 
lady  in  hunting  costume  of  amaranth  and  gold 
with  a  toque  and  plume  of  white  feathers. 
"  That  is  for  the  Empress's  hunt,  Sire." 
"  You  should  have  the  waist  rather  lower," 
said  Napoleon,  who  had  very  definite  opinions 
about  ladies'  dresses.  "These  cursed  fashions 
seem  to  be  the  only  thing  in  my  dominions  which 
I  cannot  regulate.  My  tailor,  Duchesne,  takes 


THE   MAN  OF   ACTION.  193 

three  inches  from  my  coat-tails,  and  all  the  armies 
and  fleets  of  France  cannot  prevent  him.  Who  is 
this?  " 

He  had  picked  up  a  very  gorgeous  figure  in  a 
green  coat. 

"  That  is  the  grand  master  of  the  hunt,  Sire." 

"  Then  it  is  you,  Berthier.  How  do  you  like 
your  new  costume?  And  this  In  red?  " 

"That  is  the  Arch-Chancellor." 

"And  the  violet?" 

"That  is  the  Grand  Chamberlain." 

The  Emperor  was  as  much  amused  as  a  child 
with  a  new  toy.  He  formed  little  groups  of  the 
figures  upon  the  tables,  so  that  he  might  have  an 
idea  of  how  the  dignitaries  would  look  when  they 
chatted  together.  Then  he  threw  them  all  back 
into  the  basket. 

"  Very  good,"  said  he.  "  You  and  David  have 
done  your  work  very  well,  Isabey.  You  will  sub- 
mit these  designs  to  the  Court  outfitters  and  have 
an  estimate  for  the  expense.  You  may  tell  Lenor- 
mand  that  if  she  ventures  to  send  in  such  an  ac- 
count as  the  last  which  she  sent  to  the  Empress 
she  shall  see  the  inside  of  Vincennes.  You  would 


194  UNCLE   BERN  AC. 

not  think  it  right,  Monsieur  de  Laval,  to  spend 
twenty-five  thousand  francs  upon  a  single  dress, 
even  though  it  was  for  Mademoiselle  Eugenie  de 
Choiseul." 

Was  there  anything  which  this  wizard  of  a  man 
did  not  know?  What  could  my  love  affairs  be  to 
him  amidst  the  clash  of  armies  and  the  struggles 
of  nations?  When  I  looked  at  him,  half  in  amaze- 
ment and  half  in  fear,  that  pleasant  boyish  smile 
lit  up  his  pale  face,  and  his  plump  little  hand 
rested  for  an  instant  upon  my  shoulder.  His  eyes 
were  of  a  bright  blue  when  he  was  amused,  though 
they  would  turn  dark  when  he  was  thoughtful, 
and  steel-grey  in  moments  of  excitement. 

:<  You  were  surprised  when  I  told  you  a  little 
while  ago  about  your  encounter  with  the  English- 
man in  the  village  inn.  You  are  still  more  sur- 
prised now  when  I  tell  you  about  a  certain  young 
lady.  You  must  certainly  have  thought  that  I  was 
very  badly  served  by  my  agents  in  England  if  I 
did  not  know  such  important  details  as  these." 

"  I  cannot  conceive,  Sire,  why  such  trifles 
should  be  reported  to  you,  or  why  you  should  for 
one  instant  remember  them." 


THE   MAN   OF   ACTION. 


195 


:t  You  are  certainly  a  very  modest  young  man, 
and  I  hope  you  will  not  lose  that  charming  qual- 
ity when  you  have  been  for  a  little  time  at  my 
Court.  So  you  think  that  your  own  private  af- 
fairs are  of  no  importance  to  me?  " 

"  I  do  not  know  why  they  should  be,  Sire." 

"  What  is  the  name  of  your  great-uncle?  " 

"  He  is  the  Cardinal  de  Laval  de  Montmo- 
rency." 

"  Precisely.     And  where  is  he?  " 

"  He  is  in  Germany." 

"  Quite  so — in  Germany,  and  not  at  Notre 
Dame,  where  I  should  have  placed  him.  Who  is 
your  first  cousin?  " 

"  The  Duke  de  Rohan." 

"  And  where  is  he?  " 

"  In  London." 

"  Yes,  in  London,  and  not  at  the  Tuileries, 
where  he  might  have  had  what  he  liked  for  the 
asking.  I  wonder  if  I  were  to  fall  whether  I 
should  have  followers  as  faithful  as  those  of  the 
Bourbons.  Would  the  men  that  I  have  made  go 
into  exile  and  refuse  all  offers  until  I  should  re- 
turn? Come  here,  Berthier! "  he  took  his  favour- 


196  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

ite  by  the  ear  with  the  caressing  gesture  which 
was  peculiar  to  him.  "  Could  I  count  upon  you, 
you  rascal — eh?  " 

"  I  do  not  understand  you,  Sire."  Our  con- 
versation had  been  carried  on  in  a  voice  which 
had  made  it  inaudible  to  the  other  people  in  the 
room,  but  now  they  were  all  listening  to  what  Ber- 
thier  had  to  say. 

"  If  I  were  driven  out,  would  you  go  into  exile 
also?  " 

"  No,  Sire." 

"  Diable!    At  least  you  are  frank." 

"  I  could  not  go  into  exile,  Sire." 

"And  why?" 

"  Because  I  should  be  dead,  Sire." 

Napoleon  began  to  laugh. 

"  And  there  are  some  who  say  that  our  Ber- 
thier  is  dull-witted,"  said  he.  "  Well,  I  think  I 

am  pretty  sure  of  you,  Berthier,  for  although  I 
i 

am  fond  of  you  for  reasons  of  my  own  I  do  not 
think  that  you  would  be  of  much  value  to  anyone 
else.  Now  I  could  not  say  that  of  you,  Monsieur 
Talleyrand.  You  would  change  very  quickly  to  a 
new  master  as  you  have  changed  from  an  old  one. 


THE    MAN  OF   ACTION. 


I97 


You  have  a  genius,  you  know,  for  adapting  your- 
self." 

There  was  nothing  which  the  Emperor  loved 
more  than  to  suddenly  produce  little  scenes  of  this 
sort  which  made  everybody  very  uncomfortable, 
for  no  one  could  tell  what  awkward  or  compro- 
mising question  he  was  going  to  put  to  them  next. 
At  present,  however,  they  all  forgot  their  own 
fears  of  what  might  come  in  their  interest  at  the 
reply  which  the  famous  diplomatist  might  make 
to  a  suggestion  which  everybody  knew  to  be  so 
true.  He  stood,  leaning  upon  his  black  ebony 
stick,  with  his  bulky  shoulders  stooping  forward, 
and  an  amused  smile  upon  his  face,  as  if  the  most 
innocent  of  compliments  had  been  addressed  to 
him.  One  of  his  few  titles  to  respect  is  that  he 
always  met  Napoleon  upon  equal  terms,  and  never 
condescended  to  fawn  upon  him  or  to  flatter  him. 

"  You  think  I  should  desert  you,  Sire,  if  your 
enemies  offered  me  more  than  you  have  given 
me?" 

"  I  am  perfectly  sure  that  you  would." 

"  Well,  really  I  cannot  answer  for  myself,  Sire, 
until  the  offer  has  been  made.  But  it  will  have  to 


198  UNCLE  EERNAC. 

be  a  very  large  one.  You  see,  apart  from  my  very 
nice  hotel  in  the  Rue  St.  Florentin,  and  the  two 
hundred  thousand  or  so  which  you  are  pleased  to 
allow  me,  there  is  my  position  as  the  first  minister 
in  Europe.  Really,  Sire,  unless  they  put  me  on 
the  throne  I  cannot  see  how  I  can  better  my 
position/' 

"  No,  I  think  I  have  you  pretty  safe,"  said 
Napoleon,  looking  hard  at  him  with  thoughtful 
eyes.  "  By  the  way,  Talleyrand,  you  must  either 
marry  Madame  Grand  or  get  rid  of  her,  for  I  can- 
not have  a  scandal  about  the  Court." 

I  was  astounded  to  hear  so  delicate  and  per- 
sonal a  matter  discussed  in  this  public  way,  but 
this  also  was  characteristic  of  the  rule  of  this  ex- 
traordinary man,  who  proclaimed  that  he  looked 
upon  delicacy  and  good  taste  as  two  of  the  fetters 
with  which  mediocrity  attempted  to  cripple  gen- 
ius. There  was  no  question  of  private  life,  from 
the  choosing  of  a  wife  to  the  discarding  of  a  mis- 
tress, that  this  young  conqueror  of  thirty-six  did 
not  claim  the  right  of  discussing  and  of  finally 
settling.  Talleyrand  broke  once  more  into  his 
benevolent  but  inscrutable  smile. 


THE    MAN   OF   ACTION 


I99 


"  I  suppose  that  it  is  from  early  association, 
Sire,"  said  he,  "  but  my  instincts  are  to  avoid  mar- 
riage." 

Napoleon  began  to  laugh. 

"  I  forget  sometimes  that  it  is  really  the  Bishop 
of  Autun  to  whom  I  am  speaking,"  said  he.  "  I 
think  that  perhaps  I  have  interest  enough  with  the 
Pope  to  ask  him,  in  return  for  any  little  attention 
which  we  gave  him  at  the  Coronation,  to  show  you 
some  leniency  in  this  matter.  She  is  a  clever 
woman,  this  Madame  Grand.  I  have  observed 
that  she  listens  with  attention." 

Talleyrand  shrugged  his  rounded  shoulders. 

"  Intellect  in  a  woman  is  not  always  an  ad- 
vantage, Sire.  A  clever  woman  compromises  her 
husband.  A  stupid  woman  only  compromises  her- 
self." 

"  The  cleverest  woman,"  said  Napoleon,  "  is 
the  woman  who  is  clever  enough  to  conceal  her 
cleverness.  The  women  in  France  have  always 
been  a  danger,  for  they  are  cleverer  than  the  men. 
They  cannot  understand  that  it  is  their  hearts  and 
not  their  heads  that  we  want.  When  they  have 

had  influence  upon  a  monarch,  they  have  invari- 
14 


200  UNCLE    BERNAC. 

ably  ruined  his  career.  Look  at  Henry  IV.  and 
Louis  XIV.  They  are  all  ideologists,  dreamers, 
sentimentalists,  full  of  emotion  and  energy,  but 
without  logic  or  foresight.  Look  at  that  accursed 
Madame  de  Stael!  Look  at  the  Salons  of  the 
Quartier  St.  Germaine!  Their  eternal  clack,  clack, 
clack  give  me  more  trouble  than  the  fleet  of  Eng- 
land. Why  cannot  they  look  after  their  babies 
and  their  needlework?  I  suppose  you  think  that 
these  are  very  dreadful  opinions,  Monsieur  de 
Laval?" 

It  was  not  an  easy  question  to  answer,  so  I 
was  silent. 

"  You  have  not  at  your  age  become  a  practical 
man/'  said  the  Emperor.  "  You  will  understand 
then.  I  daresay  that  I  thought  as  you  do  at  the 
time  when  the  stupid  Parisians  were  saying  what 
a  misalliance  the  widow  of  the  famous  General  de 
Beauharnais  was  making  by  marrying  the  un- 
known Buonaparte.  It  was  a  beautiful  dream! 
There  are  nine  inns  in  a  single  day's  journey 
between  Milan  and  Mantua,  and  I  wrote  a  let- 
ter to  my  wife  from  each  of  them.  Nine  letters 
in  a  day — but  one  becomes  disillusioned,  Mon- 


THE    MAN   OF   ACTION.  2OI 

sieur.  One  learns  to  accept  things  as  they 
are." 

I  could  not  but  think  what  a  beautiful  young 
man  he  must  have  been  before  he  had  learned  to 
accept  things  as  they  are.  The  glamour,  the  ro- 
mance— what  a  bald  dead  thing  is  life  without  it! 
His  own  face  had  clouded  over  as  if  that  old  life 
had  perhaps  had  a  charm  which  the  Emperor's 
crown  had  never  given.  It  may  be  that  those  nine 
letters  written  in  one  day  at  wayside  inns  had 
brought  him  more  true  joy  than  all  the  treaties 
by  which  he  had  torn  provinces  from  his  neigh- 
bours. But  the  sentiment  passed  from  his  face, 
and  he  came  back  in  his  sudden  concise  fashion 
to  my  own  affairs. 

"  Eugenie  de  Choiseul  is  the  niece  of  the  Duke 
de  Choiseul,  is  she  not?  "  he  asked. 

"  Yes,  Sire." 

"  You  are  affianced?  " 

"  Yes,  Sire." 

He  shook  his  head  impatiently. 

"  If  you  wish  to  advance  yourself  in  my  Court, 
Monsieur  de  Laval,"  said  he,  "  you  must  commit 
such  matters  to  my  care.  Is  it  likely  that  I  can 


2Q2  UNCLE   BERN  AC. 

look  with  indifference  upon  a  marriage  between 
emigres — an  alliance  between  my  enemies? " 

"  But  she  shares  my  opinions,  Sire." 

"  Ta,  ta,  ta,  at  her  age  one  has  no  opinions. 
She  has  the  emigre  blood  in  her  veins,  and  it  will 
come  out.  Your  marriage  shall  be  my  care, 
Monsieur  de  Laval.  And  I  wish  you  to  come  to 
the  Pont  des  Briques  that  you  may  be  presented 
to  the  Empress.  What  is  it,  Constant?  " 

"  There  is  a  lady  outside  who  desires  to  a . 
your  Majesty.     Shall  I  tell  her  to  come  later?  " 

"  A  lady!  "  cried  the  Emperor  smiling.  "  T  ^ 
do  not  see  many  faces  in  the  camp  which  have  not 
a  moustache  upon  them.  Who  is  she?  What 
does  she  want?  " 

"  Her  name,  Sire,  is  Mademoiselle  Sibylle 
Bernac." 

"What!"  cried  Napoleon.  "It  must  be  the 
daughter  of  old  Bernac  of  Grosbois.  By  the  way, 
Monsieur  de  Laval,  he  is  your  uncle  upon  your 
mother's  side,  is  he  not?  " 

I  may  have  flushed  with  shame  as  I  acknowl- 
edged it,  for  the  Emperor  read  my  feelings. 

"  Well,  well,  he  has  not  a  very  savoury  trade, 


THE   MAN  OF   ACTION.  203 

it  is  true,  and  yet  I  can  assure  you  that  it  is  one 
which  is  very  necessary  to  me.  By  the  way, 
this  uncle  of  yours,  as  I  understand,  holds  the  es- 
tates which  should  have  descended  to  you,  does 
he  not?  " 

"  Yes,  Sire." 

His  blue  eyes  flashed  suspicion  at  me. 

"  I  trust  that  you  are  not  joining  my  service 
lerely  in  the  hope  of  having  them  restored  to 
..a." 

"  No,  Sire.  It  is  my  ambition  to  make  a  career 
f  myself." 

"  It  is  a  prouder  thing,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  to 
found  a  family  than  merely  to  perpetuate  one.  I 
could  not  restore  your  estates,  Monsieur  de  Laval, 
for  things  have  come  to  such  a  pitch  in  France  that 
if  one  once  begins  restorations  the  affair  is  end- 
less. It  would  shake  all  public  confidence.  I 
have  no  more  devoted  adherents  than  the  men 
who  hold  land  which  does  not  belong  to  them. 
As  long  as  they  serve  me,  as  your  uncle  serves  me, 
the  land  must  remain  with  them.  But  what  can 
this  young  lady  require  of  me?  Show  her  in, 
Constant!" 


204  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

An  instant  later  my  cousin  Sibylle  was  con- 
ducted into  the  room.  Her  face  was  pale  and  set, 
but  her  large  dark  eyes  were  filled  with  resolution, 
and  she  carried  herself  like  a  princess. 

"  Well,  mademoiselle,  why  do  you  come  here? 
What  is  it  that  you  want?  asked  the  Emperor  in 
the  brusque  manner  which  he  adopted  to  women, 
even  if  he  were  wooing  them. 

Sibylle  glanced  round,  and  as  our  eyes  met  for 
an  instant  I  felt  that  my  presence  had  renewed 
her  courage.  She  looked  bravely  at  the  Emperor 
as  she  answered  him. 

"  I  come,  Sire,  to  implore  a  favour  of  you." 

"  Your  father's  daughter  has  certain  claims 
upon  me,  mademoiselle.  What  is  it  that  you 
wish?  " 

"  I  do  not  ask  it  in  my  father's  name,  but  in 
my  own.  I  implore  you,  Sire,  to  spare  the  life 
of  Monsieur  Lucien  Lesage,  who  was  arrested 
yesterday  upon  a  charge  of  treason.  He  is  a  stu- 
dent, Sire — a  mere  dreamer  who  has  lived  away 
from  the  world  and  has  been  made  a  tool  by  de- 
signing men." 

"A   dreamer!"    cried    the    Emperor   harshly. 


THE   MAN  OF  ACTION.  205 

"  They  are  the  most  dangerous  of  all."  He  took 
a  bundle  of  notes  from  his  table  and  glanced  them 
over.  "  I  presume  that  he  is  fortunate  enough 
to  be  your  lover,  mademoiselle?  " 

Sibylle's  pale  face  flushed,  and  she  looked 
down  before  the  Emperor's  keen  sardonic  glance. 

"  I  have  his  examination  here.  He  does  not 
come  well  out  of  it.  I  confess  that  from  what  I 
see  of  the  young  man's  character  I  should  not  say 
that  he  is  worthy  of  your  love." 

"  I  implore  you  to  spare  him,  Sire." 

"  What  you  ask  is  impossible,  mademoiselle.  I 
have  been  conspired  against  from  two  sides — by 
the  Bourbons  and  by  the  Jacobins.  Hitherto  I 
have  been  too  long  suffering,  and  they  have  been 
encouraged  by  my  patience.  Since  Cadoudal  and 
the  Due  d'Enghien  died  the  Bourbons  have  been 
quiet.  Now  I  must  teach  the  same  lesson  to  these 
others." 

I  was  astonished  and  am  still  astonished  at  the 
passion  with  which  my  brave  and  pure  cousin 
loved  this  cowardly  and  low-minded  man,  though 
it  is  but  in  accordance  with  that  strange  law  which 
draws  the  extremes  of  nature  together.  As  she 


206  UNCLE    BERNAC. 

heard  the  Emperor's  stern  reply  the  last  sign  of 
colour  faded  from  her  pale  face,  and  her  eyes  were 
dimmed  with  despairing  tears,  which  gleamed  upon 
her  white  cheeks  like  dew  upon  the  petals  of  a  lily. 

"  For  God's  sake,  Sire!  For  the  love  of  your 
mother  spare  him!  "  she  cried,  falling  upon  her 
knees  at  the  Emperor's  feet.  "  I  will  answer  for 
him  that  he  never  offends  you  again." 

"Tut,  tut!"  cried  Napoleon  angrily,  turning 
upon  his  heel  and  impatiently  walking  up  and 
down  the  room.  "  I  cannot  grant  you  what  you 
ask,  mademoiselle.  When  I  say  so  once  it  is 
finished.  I  cannot  have  my  decisions  in  high 
matters  of  State  affected  by  the  intrusion  of 
women.  The  Jacobins  have  been  dangerous  of 
late,  and  an  example  must  be  made  or  we  shall 
have  the  Faubourg  St.  Antoine  upon  our  hands 


once  more." 


The    Emperor's    set    face    and    firm    manner 
showed  it  was  hopeless,  and  yet  my  cousin  per- 
severed as  no  one  but  a  woman  who  pleads  for 
her  lover  would  have  dared  to  do. 
"  He  is  harmless,  Sire." 
"His  death  will  frighten  others." 


With  a  face  which  showed  that  all  hope  had  not  been  abandoned. 


THE    MAN   OF   ACTION.  2O? 

"  Spare  him  and  I  will  answer  for  his  loyalty." 

"  What  you  ask  is  impossible." 

Constant  and  I  raised  her  from  the  ground. 

"  That  is  right,  Monsieur  de  Laval,"  said  the 
Emperor.  "  This  interview  can  lead  to  nothing. 
Remove  your  cousin  from  the  room!" 

But  she  had  again  turned  to  him  with  a  face 
which  showed  that  even  now  all  hope  had  not  been 
abandoned. 

"  Sire,"  she  cried.  "  You  say  that  an  example 
must  be  made.  There  is  Toussac !  " 

"  Ah,  if  I  could  lay  my  hands  upon  Toussac! " 

"  He  is  the  dangerous  man.  It  was  he  and 
my  father  who  led  Lucien  on.  If  an  example  must 
be  made  it  should  be  an  example  of  the  guilty 
rather  than  of  the  innocent." 

"  They  are  both  guilty.  And,  besides,  we  have 
our  hands  upon  the  one  but  not  upon  the  other." 

"  But  if  I  could  find  him?  " 

Napoleon  thought  for  a  moment. 

"  If  you  do,"  said  he,  "  Lesage  will  be  for- 
given! " 

"  But  I  cannot  do  it  in  a  day." 

"  How  long  do  you  ask?  " 


208  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

"  A  week  at  the  least." 

"  Then  he  has  a  respite  of  a  week.  If  you  can 
find  Toussac  in  the  time  Lesage  will  be  pardoned. 
If  not  he  will  die  upon  the  eighth  day.  It  is 
enough.  Monsieur  de  Laval,  remove  your  cousin, 
for  I  have  matters  of  more  importance  to  attend 
to.  I  shall  expect  you  one  evening  at  the  Pont 
des  Briques,  when  you  are  ready  to  be  presented 
to  the  Empress." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   MAN    OF    DREAMS. 

WHEN  I  had  escorted  my  Cousin  Sibylle  from 
the  presence  of  the  Emperor,  I  was  surprised  to 
find  the  same  young  hussar  officer  waiting  outside 
who  had  commanded  the  guard  which  had  brought 
me  to  the  camp. 

"  Well,  mademoiselle,  what  luck?  "  he  asked 
excitedly,  clanking  towards  us. 

For  answer  Sibylle  shook  her  head. 

"  Ah,  I  feared  as  much,  for  the  Emperor  is  a 
terrible  man.  It  was  brave,  indeed,  of  you  to  at- 
tempt it.  I  had  rather  charge  an  unshaken  square 
upon  a  spent  horse  than  ask  him  for  anything. 
But  my  heart  is  heavy,  mademoiselle,  that  you 
should  have  been  unsuccessful."  His  boyish  blue 
eyes  filled  with  tears  and  his  fair  moustache 
drooped  in  such  a  deplorable  fashion,  that  I  could 
have  laughed  had  the  matter  been  less  serious. 

"  Lieutenant  Gerard  chanced  to  meet  me,  and 
209 


2IO  UNCLE   BERN  AC. 

escorted  me  through  the  camp,"  said  my  cousin. 
"  He  has  been  kind  enough  to  give  me  sympathy 
in  my  trouble." 

"And  so  do  I,  Sibylle,"  I  cried;  "you  carried 
yourself  like  an  angel,  and  it  is  a  lucky  man  who 
is  blessed  with  your  love.  I  trust  that  he  may  be 
worthy  of  it." 

She  turned  cold  and  proud  in  an  instant  when 
anyone  threw  a  doubt  upon  this  wretched  lover 
of  hers. 

"  I  know  him  as  neither  the  Emperor  nor  you 
can  do,"  said  she.  "  He  has  the  heart  and  soul 
of  a  poet,  and  he  is  too  high-minded  to  suspect 
the  intrigues  to  which  he  has  fallen  a  victim.  But 
as  to  Toussac,  I  should  have  no  pity  upon  him, 
for  I  know  him  to  be  a  murderer  five  times  over, 
and  I  know  also  that  there  will  be  no  peace  in 
France  until  he  has  been  taken.  Cousin  Louis, 
will  you  help  me  to  do  it?  " 

The  lieutenant  had  been  tugging  at  his  mous- 
tache and  looking  me  up  and  down  with  a  jeal- 
ous eye. 

"  Surely,  mademoiselle,  you  will  permit  me  to 
help  you?  "  he  cried  in  a  piteous  voice. 


THE   MAN   OF   DREAMS.  211 

"  I  may  need  you  both,"  said  she.  "  I  will 
come  to  you  if  I  do.  Now  I  will  ask  you  to  ride 
with  me  to  the  edge  of  the  camp  and  there  to 
leave  me." 

She  had  a  quick  imperative  way  which  came 
charmingly  from  those  sweet  womanly  lips.  The 
grey  horse  upon  which  I  had  come  to  the  camp 
was  waiting  beside  that  of  the  hussar,  so  we  were 
soon  in  the  saddle.  When  we  were  clear  of  the 
huts  my  cousin  turned  to  us. 

"  I  had  rather  go  alone  now,"  said  she.  "  It 
is  understood,  then,  that  I  can  rely  upon  you." 

"  Entirely,"  said  I. 

"  To  the  death,"  cried  Gerard. 

"  It  is  everything  to  me  to  have  two  brave  men 
at  my  back,"  said  she,  and  so,  with  a  smile,  gave 
her  horse  its  head  and  cantered  off  over  the  down- 
land  in  the  direction  of  Grosbois. 

For  my  part  I  remained  in  thought  for  some 
time,  wondering  what  plan  she  could  have  in  her 
head  by  which  she  hoped  to  get  upon  the  track  of 
Toussac.  A  woman's  wit,  spurred  by  the  danger 
of  her  lover,  might  perhaps  succeed  where  Fouche 
and  Savary  had  failed,  When  at  last  I  turned  my 


212  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

horse  I  found  my  young  hussar  still  staring  after 
the  distant  rider. 

"  My  faith!  There  is  the  woman  for  you, 
Etienne!"  he  kept  repeating.  "What  an  eye! 
What  a  smile!  What  a  rider!  And  she  is  not 
afraid  of  the  Emperor.  Oh,  Etienne,  here  is  the 
woman  who  is  worthy  of  you!" 

These  were  the  little  sentences  which  he  kept 
muttering  to  himself  until  she  vanished  over  the 
hill,  when  he  became  conscious  at  last  of  my 
presence. 

• 

'  You  are  mademoiselle's  cousin?  "  he  asked. 
:t  You  are  joined  with  me  in  doing  something  for 
her.  I  do  not  yet  know  what  it  is,  but  I  am  per- 
fectly ready  to  do  it." 

"  It  is  to  capture  Toussac." 

"Excellent!" 

"  In  order  to  save  the  life  of  her  lover." 

There  was  a  struggle  in  the  face  of  the  young 
hussar,  but  his  more  generous  nature  won. 

"  Sapristi!  I  will  do  even  that  if  it  will  make 
her  the  happier!  "  he  cried,  and  he  shook  the  hand 
which  I  extended  towards  him.  "  The  Hussars  of 
Bercheny  are  quartered  over  yonder,  where  you 


THE   MAN   OF   DREAMS.  213 

see  the  lines  of  picketed  horses.  If  you  will  send 
for  Lieutenant  Etienne  Gerard  you  will  find  a  sure 
blade  always  at  your  disposal.  Let  me  hear  from 
you  then,  and  the  sooner  the  better!  "  He  shook 
his  bridle  and  was  off,  with  youth  and  gallantry  in 
every  line  of  him,  from  his  red  toupee  and  flow- 
ing dolman  to  the  spur  which  twinkled  on  his 
heel. 

But  for  four  long  clays  no  word  came  from  my 
cousin  as  to  her  quest,  nor  did  I  hear  from  this 
grim  uncle  of  mine  at  the  Castle  of  Grosbois.  For 
myself  I  had  gone  into  the  town  of  Boulogne  and 
had  hired  such  a  room  as  my  thin  purse  could 
afford  over  the  shop  of  a  baker  named  Vidal,  next 
to  the  Church  of  St.  Augustin,  in  the  Rue  des 
Vents.  Only  last  year  I  went  back  there  under 
that  strange  impulse  which  leads  the  old  to  tread 
once  more  with  dragging  feet  the  same  spots  which 
have  sounded  to  the  crisp  tread  of  their  youth. 
The  room  is  still  there,  the  very  pictures  and  the 
plaster  head  of  Jean  Bart  which  used  to  stand  upon 
the  side  table.  As  I  stood  with  my  back  to  the 
narrow  window,  I  had  around  me  every  smallest 
detail  upon  which  my  young  eyes  had  looked;  nor 


214 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 


was  I  conscious  that  my  own  heart  and  feelings 
had  undergone  much  change.  And  yet  there,  in 
the  little  round  glass  which  faced  me,  was  the  long 
drawn,  weary  face  of  an  aged  man,  and  out  of  the 
window,  when  I  turned,  were  the  bare  and  lonely 
downs  which  had  been  peopled  by  that  mighty 
host  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men.  To 
think  that  the  Grand  Army  should  have  vanished 
away  like  a  shredding  cloud  upon  a  windy  day,  and 
yet  that  every  sordid  detail  of  a  bourgeois  lodg- 
ing should  remain  unchanged!  Truly,  if  man  is 
not  humble  it  is  not  for  want  of  having  his  lesson 
taught  to  him  by  Nature. 

My  first  care  after  I  had  chosen  my  room  was 
to  send  to  Grosbois  for  that  poor  little  bundle 
which  I  had  carried  ashore  with  me  that  squally 
night  from  the  English  lugger.  My  next  was  to 
use  the  credit  which  my  favourable  reception  by 
the  Emperor  and  his  assurance  of  employment  had 
given  me  in  order  to  obtain  such  a  wardrobe  as 
would  enable  me  to  appear  without  discredit 
among  the  richly-dressed  courtiers  and  soldiers 
who  surrounded  him.  It  was  well  known  that  it 
was  his  whim  that  he  should  himself  be  the  only 


THE   MAN   OF   DREAMS.  21$ 

plainly-dressed  man  in  the  company,  and  that  in 
the  most  luxurious  times  of  the  Bourbons  there 
was  never  a  period  when  fine  linen  and  a  brave 
coat  were  more  necessary  for  a  man  who  would 
keep  in  favour.  A  new  court  and  a  young  em- 
pire cannot  afford  to  take  anything  for  granted. 

It  was  upon  the  morning  of  the  fifth  day  that  I 
received  a  message  from  Duroc,  who  was  the  head 
of  the  household,  that  I  was  to  attend  the  Em- 
peror at  the  headquarters  in  the  camp,  and  that 
a  seat  in  one  of  the  Imperial  carriages  would  be 
at  my  disposal  that  I  might  proceed  with  the  Court 
to  Pont  des  Briques,  there  to  be  present  at  the 
reception  of  the  Empress.  When  I  arrived  I  was 
shown  at  once  through  the  large  entrance  tent, 
and  admitted  by  Constant  into  the  room  beyond, 
where  the  Emperor  stood  with  his  back  to  the 
fire,  kicking  his  heels  against  the  grate.  Talley- 
rand and  Berthier  were  in  attendance,  and  de 
Meneval,  the  secretary,  sat  at  the  writing-table. 

"  Ah,  Monsieur  de  Laval,"  said  the  Emperor 
with  a  friendly  nod.  "  Have  you  heard  anything 
yet  of  your  charming  cousin?  '* 

"  Nothing,  Sire,"  I  answered. 
15 


2i6  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"  I  fear  that  her  efforts  will  be  in  vain.  I  wish 
her  every  success,  for  we  have  no  reason  at  all  to 
fear  this  miserable  poet,  while  the  other  is  formida- 
ble. All  the  same,  an  example  of  some  sort  must 
be  made." 

The  darkness  was  drawing  in,  and  Constant 
had  appeared  with  a  taper  to  light  the  candles, 
but  the  Emperor  ordered  him  out. 

"  I  like  the  twilight/'  said  he.  "  No  doubt, 
Monsieur  de  Laval,  after  your  long  residence  in 
England  you  find  yourself  also  most  at  home  in 
a  dim  light.  I  think  that  the  brains  of  these  peo- 
ple must  be  as  dense  as  their  fogs  to  judge  by  the 
nonsense  which  they  write  in  their  accursed  pa- 
pers." With  one  of  those  convulsive  gestures 
which  accompanied  his  sudden  outbursts  of  pas- 
sion he  seized  a  sheaf  of  late  London  papers  from 
the  table,  and  ground  them  into  the  fire  with  his 
heel.  "  An  editor!  "  he  cried  in  the  guttural  rasp- 
ing voice  which  I  had  heard  when  I  first  met  him. 
"  What  is  he?  A  dirty  man  with  a  pen  in  a  back 
office.  And  he  will  talk  like  one  of  the  great 
Powers  of  Europe.  I  have  had  enough  of  this 
freedom  of  the  Press.  There  are  some  who  would 


THE   MAN   OF  DREAMS.  2i; 

like  to  see  it  established  in  Paris.  You  are  among 
them,  Talleyrand.  For  my  part  I  see  no  need  for 
any  paper  at  all  except  the  Moniteur  by  which  the 
Government  may  make  known  its  decisions  to  the 
people." 

"  I  am  of  opinion,  Sire/'  said  the  minister, 
"  that  it  is  better  to  have  open  foes  than  secret 
ones,  and  that  it  is  less  dangerous  to  shed  ink  than 
blood.  What  matter  if  your  enemies  have  leave 
to  rave  in  a  few  Paris  papers,  as  long  as  you  are 
at  the  head  of  five  hundred  thousand  armed  men?  " 

"  Ta,  ta,  ta! "  cried  the  Emperor  impatiently. 
"  You  speak  as  if  I  had  received  my  crown  from 
my  father  the  late  king.  But  even  if  I  had,  it 
would  be  intolerable,  this  government  by  news- 
paper. The  Bourbons  allowed  themselves  to  be 
criticised,  and  where  are  they  now?  Had  they 
used  their  Swiss  Guards  as  I  did  the  Grenadiers 
upon  the  eighteenth  Brumaire  what  would  have 
become  of  their  precious  National  Assembly? 
There  was  a  time  when  a  bayonet  in  the  stomach 
of  Mirabeau  might  have  settled  the  whole  mat- 
ter. Later  it  took  the  heads  of  a  king  and  queen 
and  the  blood  of  a  hundred  thousand  people." 


218  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

He  sat  down,  and  stretched  his  plump,  white- 
clad  legs  towards  the  fire.  Through  the  blackened 
shreds  of  the  English  papers  the  red  glow  beat 
upwards  upon  the  beautiful,  pallid,  sphinx-like  face 
— the  face  of  a  poet,  of  a  philosopher — of  anything 
rather  than  of  a  ruthless  and  ambitious  soldier. 
I  have  heard  folk  remark  that  no  two  portraits  of 
the  Emperor  are  alike,  and  the  fault  does  not  lie 
with  the  artists  but  with  the  fact  that  every  vary- 
ing mood  made  him  a  different  man.  But  in  his 
prime,  before  his  features  became  heavy,  I,  who 
have  seen  sixty  years  of  mankind,  can  say  that 
in  repose  I  have  never  looked  upon  a  more  beau- 
tiful face. 

"  You  have  no  dreams  and  no  illusions,  Tal- 
leyrand/' said  he.  "  You  are  always  practical, 
cold,  and  cynical.  But  with  me,  when  I  am  in 
the  twilight,  as  now,  or  when  I  hear  the  sound  of 
the  sea,  my  imagination  begins  to  work.  It  is  the 
same  when  I  hear  some  music — especially  music 
which  repeats  itself  again  and  again  like  some 
pieces  of  Passaniello.  They  have  a  strange  effect 
upon  me,  and  I  begin  to  Ossianise.  I  get  large 
ideas  and  great  aspirations.  It  is  at  such  times 


THE  MAN  OF   DREAMS.  219 

that  my  mind  always  turns  to  the  East,  that 
swarming  ant-heap  of  the  human  race,  where  alone 
it  is  possible  to  be  very  great.  I  renew  my  dreams 
of  '98.  I  think  of  the  possibility  of  drilling  and 
arming  these  vast  masses  of  men,  and  of  precipi- 
tating them  upon  Europe.  Had  I  conquered 
Syria  I  should  have  done  this,  and  the  fate  of  the 
world  was  really  decided  at  the  siege  of  Acre. 
With  Egypt  at  my  feet  I  already  pictured  myself 
approaching  India,  mounted  upon  an  elephant, 
and  holding  in  my  hand  a  new  version  of  the 
Koran  which  I  had  myself  composed.  I  have  been 
born  too  late.  To  be  accepted  as  a  world's  con- 
queror one  must  claim  to  be  divine.  Alexander 
declared  himself  to  be  the  son  of  Jupiter,  and  no 
one  questioned  it.  But  the  world  has  grown  old, 
and  has  lost  its  enthusiasms.  What  would  hap- 
pen if  I  were  to  make  the  same  claim?  Monsieur 
de  Talleyrand  would  smile  behind  his  hand,  and 
the  Parisians  would  write  little  lampoons  upon 
the  walls." 

He  did  not  appear  to  be  addressing  us,  but 
rather  to  be  expressing  his  thoughts  aloud,  while 
allowing  them  to  run  to  the  most  fantastic  and 


220  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

extravagant  lengths.  This  it  was  which  he  called 
Ossianising,  because  it  recalled  to  him  the  wild 
vague  dreams  of  the  Gaelic  Ossian,  whose  poems 
had  always  had  a  fascination  for  him.  De  Mene- 
val  has  told  me  that  for  an  hour  at  a  time  he 
has  sometimes  talked  in  this  strain  of  the  most 
intimate  thoughts  and  aspirations  of  his  heart, 
while  his  courtiers  have  stood  round  in  silence 
waiting  for  the  instant  when  he  would  return  once 
more  to  his  practical  and  incisive  self. 

"  The  great  ruler,"  said  he,  "  must  have  the 
power  of  religion  behind  him  as  well  as  the  power 
of  the  sword.  It  is  more  important  to  command 
the  souls  than  the  bodies  of  men.  The  Sultan, 
for  example,  is  the  head  of  the  faith  as  well  as  of 
the  army.  So  were  some  of  the  Roman  Emperors. 
My  position  must  be  incomplete  until  this  is  ac- 
complished. At  the  present  instant  there  are 
thirty  departments  in  France  where  the  Pope  is 
more  powerful  than  I  am.  It  is  only  by  universal 
dominion  that  peace  can  be  assured  in  the  world. 
When  there  is  only  one  authority  in  Europe, 
seated  at  Paris,  and  when  all  the  kings  are  so 
many  lieutenants  who  hold  their  crowns  from  the 


THE   MAN   OF   DREAMS.  221 

central  power  of  France,  it  is  then  that  the  reign 
of  peace  will  be  established.  Many  powers  of 
equal  strength  must  always  lead  to  struggles  until 
one  becomes  predominant.  Her  central  position, 
her  wealth  and  her  history,  all  mark  France  out 
as  being  the  power  which  will  control  and  regulate 
the  others.  Germany  is  divided.  Russia  is  bar- 
barous. England  is  insular.  France  only  re- 


mains/' 


I  began  to  understand  as  I  listened  to  him 
that  my  friends  in  England  had  not  been  so  far 
wrong  when  they  had  declared  that  as  long  as  he 
lived — this  little  thirty-six  year  old  artilleryman — 
there  could  not  possibly  be  any  peace  in  the  world. 
He  drank  some  coffee  which  Constant  had  placed 
upon  the  small  round  table  at  his  elbow.  Then 
he  leaned  back  in  his  chair  once  more,  still  star- 
ing moodily  at  the  red  glow  of  the  fire,  with  his 
chin  sunk  upon  his  chest. 

"  In  those  days,"  said  he,  "  the  kings  of  Eu- 
rope will  walk  behind  the  Emperor  of  France  in 
order  to  hold  up  his  train  at  his  coronation.  Each 
of  them  will  have  to  maintain  a  palace  in  Paris, 
and  the  city  will  stretch  as  far  as  Versailles.  These 


222  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

are  the  plans  which  I  have  made  for  Paris  if  she 
will  show  herself  to  be  worthy  of  them.  But  I 
have  no  love  for  them,  these  Parisians,  and  they 
have  none  for  me,  for  they  cannot  forget  that  I 
turned  my  guns  upon  them  once  before,  and  they 
know  that  I  am  ready  to  do  so  again.  I  have 
made  them  admire  me  and  fear  me,  but  I  have 
never  made  them  like  me.  Look  what  I  have  done 
for  them.  Where  are  the  treasures  of  Genoa,  the 
pictures  and  statues  of  Venice  and  of  the  Vatican? 
They  are  in  the  Louvre.  The  spoils  of  my  victories 
have  gone  to  decorate  her.  But  they  must  always 
be  changing,  always  chattering.  They  wave  their 
hats  at  me  now,  but  they  would  soon  be  waving 
their  fists  if  I  did  not  give  them  something  to  talk 
over  and  to  wonder  at.  When  other  things  are 
quiet,  I  have  the  dome  of  the  Invalides  regilded  to 
keep  their  thoughts  from  mischief.  Louis  XIV. 
gave  them  wars.  Louis  XV.  gave  them  the  gal- 
lantries and  scandals  of  his  Court.  Louis  XVI. 
gave  them  nothing,  so  they  cut  off  his  head.  It 
was  you  who  helped  to  bring  him  to  the  scaffold, 
Talleyrand." 

"  No,  Sire,  I  was  always  a  moderate." 


THE   MAN   OF   DREAMS. 


223 


"  At  least,  you  did  not  regret  his  death." 
"  The  less  so,  since  it  has  made  room  for  you, 
Sire." 

"  Nothing  could  have  held  me  down,  Talley- 
rand. I  was  born  to  reach  the  highest.  It  has 
always  been  the  same  with  me.  I  remember  when 
we  were  arranging  the  Treaty  of  Campo  Formio — 
I  a  young  general  under  thirty — there  was  a  high 
vacant  throne  with  the  Imperial  arms  in  the  Com- 
missioner's tent.  I  instantly  sprang  up  the  steps, 
and  threw  myself  down  upon  it.  I  could  not  en- 
dure to  think  that  there  was  anything  above  my- 
self. And  all  the  time  I  knew  in  my  heart  all  that 
was  going  to  happen  to  me.  Even  in  the  days 
when  my  brother  Lucien  and  I  lived  in  a  little 
room  upon  a  few  francs  a  week,  I  knew  perfectly 
well  that  the  day  would  come  wrhen  I  should  stand 
where  I  am  now.  And  yet  I  had  no  prospects  and 
no  reason  for  any  great  hopes.  I  was  not  clever 
at  school.  I  was  only  the  forty-second  out  of  fifty- 
eight.  At  mathematics  I  had  perhaps  some  abil- 
ity, but  at  nothing  else.  The  truth  is  that  I  was 
always  dreaming  when  the  others  were  working. 
There  was  nothing  to  encourage  my  ambition, 


224 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 


for  the  only  thing  which  I  inherited  from  my  father 
was  a  weak  stomach.  Once,  when  I  was  very 
young,  I  went  up  to  Paris  with  my  father  and  my 
sister  Caroline.  We  were  in  the  Rue  Richelieu, 
and  we  saw  the  king  pass  in  his  carriage.  Who 
would  have  thought  that  the  little  boy  from 
Corsica,  who  took  his  hat  off  and  stared,  was  des- 
tined to  be  the  next  monarch  of  France?  And 
yet  even  then  I  felt  as  if  that  carriage  ought  to 
belong  to  me.  What  is  it,  Constant?  " 

The  discreet  valet  bent  down  and  whispered 
something  to  the  Emperor. 

"  Ah,  of  course,"  said  he.  "  It  was  an  appoint- 
ment. I  had  forgotten  it.  Is  she  there?  " 

"  Yes,  Sire." 

"  In  the  side  room?  " 

"  Yes,  Sire." 

Talleyrand  and  Berthier  exchanged  glances, 
and  the  minister  began  to  move  towards  the  door. 

"  No,  no,  you  can  remain  here,"  said  the  Em- 
peror. "  Light  the  lamps,  Constant,  and  have 
the  carriages  ready  in  half-an-hour.  Look  over 
this  draft  of  a  letter  to  the  Emperor  of  Austria, 
and  let  me  have  your  observations  upon  it,  Tal- 


THE   MAN  OF  DREAMS. 


225 


leyrand.  De  Meneval,  there  is  a  lengthy  report 
here  as  to  the  new  dockyard  at  Brest.  Extract 
what  is  essential  from  it,  and  leave  it  upon  my 
desk  at  five  o'clock  to-morrow  morning.  Ber- 
thier,  I  will  have  the  whole  army  into  the  boats 
at  seven.  We  will  see  if  they  can  embark  within 
three  hours.  Monsieur  de  Laval,  you  will  wait 
here  until  we  start  for  Pont  des  Briques."  So 
with  a  crisp  order  to  each  of  us,  he  walked  with 
little  swift  steps  across  the  room,  and  I  saw  his 
square  green  back  and  white  legs  framed  for  an 
instant  in  the  doorway.  There  was  the  flutter  of 
a  pink  skirt  beyond,  and  then  the  curtains  closed 
behind  him. 

Berthier  stood  biting  his  nails,  while  Talley- 
rand looked  at  him  with  a  slight  raising  of  his 
bushy  eyebrows.  De  Meneval  with  a  rueful  face 
was  turning  over  the  great  bundle  of  papers  which 
had  to  be  copied  by  morning.  Constant,  with  a 
noiseless  tread,  was  lighting  the  candles  upon  the 
sconces  round  the  room. 

"  Which  is  it?  "  I  heard  the  minister  whisper. 

"The  girl  from  the  Imperial  Opera,"  said 
Berthier. 


226  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"  Is  the  little  Spanish  lady  out  of  favour 
then?  " 

"  No,  I  think  not.     She  was  here  yesterday." 
"And  the  other,  the  Countess?" 
"  She  has  a  cottage  at  Ambleteuse?  " 
"  But   we   must   have   no   scandal   about    the 
Court,"  said  Talleyrand,  with  a  sour  smile,  recall- 
ing the  moral  sentiments  with  which  the  Emperor 
had    reproved    him.      "  And    now,    Monsieur    de 
Laval,"  he  added,  drawing  me  aside,  "  I  very  much 
wish  to  hear  from  you  about  the  Bourbon  party 
in  England.     You  must  have  heard  their  views. 
Do  they  imagine  that  they  have  any  chance  of 
success?  " 

And  so  for  ten  minutes  he  plied  me  with  ques- 
tions, which  showed  me  clearly  that  the  Emperor 
had  read  him  aright,  and  that  he  was  determined, 
come  what  might,  to  be  upon  the  side  which  won. 
We  were  still  talking  when  Constant  entered  hur- 
riedly, with  a  look  of  anxiety  and  perplexity  which 
I  could  not  have  imagined  upon  so  smooth  and 
imperturbable  a  face. 

"  Good  Heavens,  Monsieur  Talleyrand," 
he  cried,  clasping  and  unclasping  his  hands. 


THE    MAN   OF    DREAMS. 


227 


"Such  a  misfortune!  Who  could  have  expected 
it?" 

"What  is  it,  then,  Constant?" 

"  Oh,  Monsieur,  I  dare  not  intrude  upon  the 
Emperon  And  yet  .  .  .  And  yet  .  .  .  The  Em- 
press is  outside,  and  she  is  coming  in." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

JOSEPHINE. 
\ 

AT  this  unexpected  announcement  Talleyrand 
and  Berthier  looked  at  each  other  in  silence,  and 
for  once  the  trained  features  of  the  great  diplo- 
matist, who  lived  behind  a  mask,  betrayed  the  fact 
that  he  was  still  capable  of  emotion.  The  spasm 
which  passed  over  them  was  caused,  however, 
rather  by  mischievous  amusement  than  by  con- 
sternation, while  Berthier — -who  had  an  honest 
affection  for  both  Napoleon  and  Josephine — ran 
frantically  to  the  door  as  if  to  bar  the  Empress 
from  entering.  Constant  rushed  towards  the  cur- 
tains which  screened  the  Emperor's  room,  and 
then,  losing  courage,  although  he  was  known  to 
be  a  stout-hearted  man,  he  came  running  back  to 
Talleyrand  for  advice.  It  was  too  late  now,  how- 
ever, for  Roustem  the  Mameluke  had  opened  the 
door,  and  two  ladies  had  entered  the  room.  The 

first  was  tall  and  graceful,  with  a  smiling  face,  and 

228 


JOSEPHINE.  229 

an  affable  though  dignified  manner.  She  was 
dressed  in  a  black  velvet  cloak  with  white  lace  at 
the  neck  and  sleeves,  and  she  wore  a  black  hat 
with  a  curling  white  feather.  Her  companion  was 
shorter,  with  a  countenance  which  would  have 
been  plain  had  it  not  been  for  the  alert  expression 
and  large  dark  eyes,  which  gave  it  charm  and  char- 
acter. A  small  black  terrier  "dog  had  followed 
them  in,  but  the  first  lady  turned  and  handed  the 
thin  steel  chain  with  which  she  led  it  to  the  Mame- 
luke attendant. 

"  You  had  better  keep  Fortune  outside,  Rous- 
tem,"  said  she,  in  a  peculiarly  sweet  musical  voice. 
"  The  Emperor  is  not  very  fond  of  dogs,  and  if 
we  intrude  upon  his  quarters  we  cannot  do  less 
than  consult  his  tastes.  Good  evening,  Monsieur 
de  Talleyrand!  Madame  de  Remusat  and  I  have 
driven  all  along  the  cliffs,  and  we  have  stopped 
as  we  passed  to  know  if  the  Emperor  is  coming 
to  Pont  des  Briques.  But  perhaps  he  has  already 
started.  I  had  expected  to  find  him  here." 

"  His  Imperial  Majesty  was  here  a  short  time 
ago,"  said  Talleyrand,  bowing  and  rubbing  his 
hands. 


230  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"  I  hold  my  salon — such  a  salon  as  Pont  des 
Briques  is  capable  of — this  evening,  and  the  Em- 
peror promised  me  that  he  would  set  his  work 
aside  for  once,  and  favour  us  with  his  presence.  I 
wish  we  could  persuade  him  to  work  less,  Monsieur 
de  Talleyrand.  He  has  a  frame  of  iron,  but  he 
cannot  continue  in  this  way.  These  nervous  at- 
tacks come  more  frequently  upon  him.  He  will 
insist  upon  doing  everything,  everything  himself. 
It  is  noble,  but  it  is  to  be  a  martyr.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  at  the  present  moment — but  you  have 
not  yet  told  me  where  he  is,  Monsieur  de  Talley- 
rand." 

"  We  expect  him  every  instant,  your  Majesty." 

"  In  that  case  we  shall  sit  down  and  await  his 
return.  Ah,  Monsieur  de  Meneval,  how  I  pity  you 
when  I  see  you  among  all  those  papers!  I  was 
desolate  when  Monsieur  de  Bourienne  deserted 
the  Emperor,  but  you  have  more  than  taken  his 
place.  Come  up  to  the  fire,  Madame  de  Remusat ! 
Yes,  yes,  I  insist  upon  it,  for  I  know  that  you 
must  be  cold.  Constant,  come  and  put  the  rug 
under  Madame  de  Remusat's  feet." 

It  was  by  little  acts  of  thoughtfulness  and 


JOSEPHINE.  231 

kindness  like  this  that  the  Empress  so  endeared 
herself  that  she  had  really  no  enemies  in  France, 
even  among  those  who  were  most  bitterly  opposed 
to  her  husband.  Whether  as  the  consort  of  the 
first  man  in  Europe,  or  as  the  lonely  divorced 
woman  eating  her  heart  out  at  Malmaison,  she 
was  always  praised  and  beloved  by  those  who 
knew  her.  Of  all  the  sacrifices  which  the  Em- 
peror ever  made  to  his  ambition  that  of  his  wife 
was  the  one  which  cost  him  the  greatest  struggle 
and  the  keenest  regret. 

Now  as  she  sat  before  the  fire  in  the  same  chair 
which  had  so  recently  been  occupied  by  the  Em- 
peror, I  had  an  opportunity  of  studying  this  per- 
son, whose  strange  fate  had  raised  her  from  being 
the  daughter  of  a  lieutenant  of  artillery  to  the 
first  position  among  the  women  of  Europe.  She 
was  six  years  older  than  Napoleon,  and  on  this 
occasion,  when  I  saw  her  first,  she  was  in  her  forty- 
second  year;  but  at  a  little  distance  or  in  a  dis- 
creet light,  it  was  no  courtier's  flattery  to  say  that 
she  might  very  well  have  passed  for  thirty.  Her 
tall,  elegant  figure  was  girlish  in  its  supple  slim- 
ness,  and  she  had  an  easy  and  natural  grace  in 
16 


232  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

every  movement,  which  she  inherited  with  her 
tropical  West  Indian  blood.  Her  features  were 
delicate,  and  I  have  heard  that  in  her  youth  she 
was  strikingly  beautiful;  but,  like  most  Creole 
women,  she  had  become  passee  in  early  middle 
age.  She  had  made  a  brave  fight,  however — with 
art  as  her  ally — against  the  attacks  of  time,  and 
her  success  had  been  such  that  when  she  sat  aloof 
upon  a  dais  or  drove  past  in  a  procession,  she 
might  still  pass  as  a  lovely  woman.  In  a  small 
room,  however,  or  in  a  good  light,  the  crude  pinks 
and  whites  with  which  she  had  concealed  her  sal- 
low cheeks  became  painfully  harsh  and  artificial. 
Her  own  natural  beauty,  however,  still  lingered  in 
that  last  refuge  of  beauty — the  eyes,  which  were 
large,  dark,  and  sympathetic.  Her  mouth,  too, 
was  small  and  amiable,  and  her  most  frequent  ex- 
pression was  a  smile,  which  seldom  broadened  into 
a  laugh,  as  she  had  her  own  reasons  for  preferring 
that  her  teeth  should  not  be  seen.  As  to  her 
bearing,  it  was  so  dignified,  that  if  this  little  West 
Indian  had  come  straight  from  the  loins  of  Charle- 
magne, it  could  not  have  been  improved  upon. 
Her  walk,  her  glance,  the  sweep  of  her  dress,  the 


JOSEPHINE.  233 

wave  of  her  hand — they  had  all  the  happiest  mix- 
ture of  the  sweetness  of  a  woman  and  the  conde- 
scension of  a  queen.  I  watched  her  with  admira- 
tion as  she  leaned  forward,  picking  little  pieces  of 
aromatic  aloes  wood  out  of  the  basket  and  throw- 
ing them  on  to  the  fire. 

"  Napoleon  likes  the  smell  of  burning  aloes," 
said  she.  "  There  was  never  anyone  who  had  such 
a  nose  as  he,  for  he  can  detect  things  which  are 
quite  hidden  from  me." 

f<  The  Emperor  has  an  excellent  nose  for  many 
things,"  said  Talleyrand.  "  The  State  contractors 
have  found  that  out  to  their  cost." 

"  Oh,  it  is  dreadful  when  he  comes  to  examine 
accounts — dreadful,  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand  ! 
Nothing  escapes  him.  He  will  make  no  allow- 
ances. Everything  must  be  exact.  But  who  is 
this  young  gentleman,  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand? 
I  do  not  think  that  he  has  been  presented  to  me." 

The  minister  explained  in  a  few  words  that  I 
had  been  received  into  the  Emperor's  personal 
service,  and  Josephine  congratulated  me  upon  it 
with  the  most  kindly  sympathy. 

"It  eases  my  mind  so  to  know  that  he  has 


234 


UNCLE   EERNAC. 


brave  and  loyal  men  round  him.  Ever  since  that 
dreadful  affair  of  the  infernal  machine  I  have  al- 
ways been  uneasy  if  he  is  away  from  me.  He  is 
really  safest  in  time  of  war,  for  it  is  only  then  that 
he  is  away  from  the  assassins  who  hate  him.  And 
now  I  understand  that  a  new  Jacobin  plot  has  only 
just  been  discovered." 

"  This  is  the  same  Monsieur  de  Laval  who  was 
there  when  the  conspirator  was  taken,"  said  Tal- 
leyrand. 

The  Empress  overwhelmed  me  with  questions, 
hardly  waiting  for  the  answers  in  her  anxiety. 

"  But  this  dreadful  man  Toussac  has  not  been 
taken  yet,"  she  cried.  "  Have  I  not  heard  that  a 
young  lady  is  endeavouring  to  do  what  has  baffled 
the  secret  police,  and  that  the  freedom  of  her  lover 
is  to  be  the  reward  of  her  success?  " 

"  She  is  my  cousin,  your  Imperial  Majesty. 
Mademoiselle  Sibylle  Bernac  is  her  name." 

"  You  have  only  been  in  France  a  few  days, 
Monsieur  de  Laval,"  said  Josephine,  smiling,  "  but 
it  seems  to  me  that  all  the  affairs  of  the  Empire  are 
already  revolving  round  you.  You  must  bring  this 
pretty  cousin  of  yours — the  Emperor  said  that  she 


JOSEPHINE.  235 

is  pretty — to  Court  with  you,  and  present  her  to 
me.  Madame  de  Remusat,  you  will  take  a  note 
of  the  name." 

The  Empress  had  stooped  again  to  the  basket 
of  aloes  wood  which  stood  beside  the  fireplace. 
Suddenly  I  saw  her  stare  hard  at  something,  and 
then,  with  a  little  cry  of  surprise,  she  stooped  and 
lifted  an  object  from  the  carpet.  It  was  the  Em- 
peror's soft  flat  beaver  with  the  little  tricolour 
cockade.  Josephine  sprang  up,  and  looked  from 
the  hat  in  her  hand  to  the  imperturbable  face  of 
the  minister. 

"  How  is  this,  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand,"  she 
cried,  and  the  dark  eyes  began  to  shine  with  anger 
and  suspicion.  "  You  said  to  me  that  the  Em- 
peror was  out,  and  here  is  his  hat !  " 

"  Pardon  me,  your  Imperial  Majesty,  I  did  not 
say  that  he  was  out." 

"  What  did  you  say  then?  " 

"  I  said  that  he  left  the  room  a  short  time 
before." 

"  You  are  endeavouring  to  conceal  something 
from  me,"  she  cried,  with  the  quick  instinct  of  a 
woman. 


236  UNCLE   BERNAC.; 

"  I  assure  you  that  I  tell  you  all  I  know." 

The  Empress's  eyes  darted  from  face  to  face. 

"  Marshal  Berthier,"  she  cried,  "  I  insist  upon 
your  telling  me  this  instant  where  the  Emperor  is, 
and  what  he  is  doing." 

The  slow-witted  soldier  stammered  and  twisted 
his  cocked  hat  about. 

"  I  know  no  more  than  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand 
does,"  said  he;  "  the  Emperor  left  us  some  time 
ago." 

"  By  which  door?  " 

Poor  Berthier  was  more  confused  than  ever. 

"  Really,  your  Imperial  Majesty,  I  cannot  un- 
dertake to  say  by  which  door  it  was  that  the  Em- 
peror quitted  the  apartment." 

Josephine's  eyes  flashed  round  at  me,  and  my 
heart  shrunk  within  me  as  I  thought  that  she  was 
about  to  ask  me  that  same  dreadful  question.  But 
I  had  just  time  to  breathe  one  prayer  to  the  good 
Saint  Ignatius,  who  has  always  been  gracious  to 
our  family,  and  the  danger  passed. 

"  Come,  Madame  de  Remusat,"  said  she.  "  If 
these  gentlemen  will  not  tell  us  we  shall  very  soon 
find  out  for  ourselves." 


JOSEPHINE.  237 

She  swept  with  great  dignity  towards  the  cur- 
tained door,  followed  at  the  distance  of  a  few  yards 
by  her  waiting  lady,  whose  frightened  face  and 
lagging,  unwilling  steps  showed  that  she  per- 
fectly appreciated  the  situation.  Indeed,  the  Em- 
peror's open  infidelities,  and  the  public  scenes  to 
which  they  gave  rise,  were  so  notorious,  that  even 
in  Ashford  they  had  reached  our  ears.  Napoleon's 
self-confidence  and  his  contempt  of  the  world  had 
the  effect  of  making  him  careless  as  to  what  was 
thought  or  said  of  him,  while  Josephine,  when  she 
was  carried  away  by  jealousy,  lost  all  the  dignity 
and  restraint  which  usually  marked  her  conduct; 
so  between  them  they  gave  some  embarrassing 
moments  to  those  who  were  about  them.  Talley- 
rand turned  away  with  his  fingers  over  his  lips, 
while  Berthier,  in  an  agony  of  apprehension,  con- 
tinued to  double  up  and  to  twist  the  cocked  hat 
which  he  held  between  his  hands.  Only  Constant, 
the  faithful  valet,  ventured  to  intervene  between 
his  mistress  and  the  fatal  door. 

"  If  your  Majesty  will  resume  your  seat  I  shall 
inform  the  Emperor  that  you  are  here,"  said  he, 
with  two  deprecating  hands  outstretched. 


238  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

"Ah,  then  he  is  there!"  she  cried  furiously. 
"  I  see  it  all!  I  understand  it  all!  But  I  will  ex- 
pose him — I  will  reproach  him  with  his  perfidy! 
Let  me  pass,  Constant!  How  dare  you  stand  in 
my  way?  " 

"  Allow  me  to  announce  you,  your  Majesty." 

"  I  shall  announce  myself."  With  swift  undu- 
lations of  her  beautiful  figure  she  darted  past  the 
protesting  valet,  parted  the  curtains,  threw  open 
the  door,  and  vanished  into  the  next  room. 

She  had  seemed  a  creature  full  of  fire  and  of 
spirit  as,  with  a  flush  which  broke  through  the 
paint  upon  her  cheeks,  and  with  eyes  which 
gleamed  with  the  just  anger  of  an  outraged  wife, 
she  forced  her  way  into  her  husband's  presence. 
But  she  was  a  woman  of  change  and  impulse,  full 
of  little  squirts  of  courage  and  corresponding  re- 
actions into  cowardice.  She  had  hardly  vanished 
from  our  sight  when  there  was  a  harsh  roar,  like 
an  angry  beast,  and  the  next  instant  Josephine 
came  flying  into  the  room  again,  with  the  Em- 
peror, inarticulate  with  passion,  raving  at  her 
heels.  So  frightened  was  she,  that  she  began  to 
run  towards  the  fireplace,  upon  which  Madame 


JOSEPHINE.  239 

de  Remusat,  who  had  no  wish  to  form  a  rearguard 
upon  such  an  occasion,  began  running  also,  and 
the  two  of  them,  like  a  pair  of  startled  hens,  came 
rustling  and  fluttering  back  to  the  seats  which 
they  had  left.  There  they  cowered  whilst  the 
Emperor,  with  a  convulsed  face  and  a  torrent  of 
camp-fire  oaths,  stamped  and  raged  about  the 
room. 

"You,  Constant,  you!"  he  shouted;  "is  this 
the  way  in  which  you  serve  me?  Have  you  no 
sense  then — no  discretion?  Am  I  never  to  have 
any  privacy?  Must  I  eternally  submit  to  be  spied 
upon  by  women?  Is  everyone  else  to  have  liberty, 
and  I  only  to  have  none?  As  to  you,  Josephine, 
this  finishes  it  all.  I  had  hesitations  before,  but 
now  I  have  none.  This  brings  everything  to  an 
end  between  us." 

We  would  all,  I  am  sure,  have  given  a  good 
deal  to  slip  from  the  room — at  least,  my  own  em- 
barrassment far  exceeded  my  interest — but  the 
Emperor  from  his  lofty  standpoint  cared  as  little 
about  our  presence  as  if  we  had  been  so  many 
articles  of  furniture.  In  fact,  it  was  one  of  this 
strange  man's  peculiarities  that  it  was  just  those 


240  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

delicate  and  personal  scenes  with  which  privacy  is 
usually  associated  that  he  preferred  to  have  in 
public,  for  he  knew  that  his  reproaches  had  an 
additional  sting  when  they  fell  upon  other  ears 
besides  those  of  his  victim.  From  his  wife  to  his 
groom  there  was  not  one  of  those  who  were  about 
him  who  did  not  live  in  dread  of  being  held  up  to 
ridicule  and  infamy  before  a  smiling  crowd,  whose 
amusement  was  only  tempered  by  the  reflection 
that  each  of  them  might  be  the  next  to  endure  the 
same  exposure. 

As  to  Josephine,  she  had  taken  refuge  in  a 
woman's  last  resource,  and  was  crying  bitterly, 
with  her  graceful  neck  stooping  towards  her  knees 
and  her  two  hands  over  her  face.  Madame  de 
Remusat  was  weeping  also,  and  in  every  pause  of 
his  hoarse  scolding — for  his  voice  was  very  hoarse 
and  raucous  when  he  was  angry — there  came  the 
soft  hissing  and  clicking  of  their  sobs.  Sometimes 
his  fierce  taunts  would  bring  some  reply  from  the 
Empress,  some  gentle  reproof  to  him  for  his  gal- 
lantries, but  each  remonstrance  only  excited  him 
to  a  fresh  rush  of  vituperation.  In  one  of  his  out- 
bursts he  threw  his  snuff-box  with  a  crash  upon 


JOSEPHINE.  241 

the  floor  as  a  spoiled  child  would  hurl  down  its 
toys. 

"  Morality!  "  he  cried,  "  morality  was  not  made 
for  me,  and  I  was  not  made  for  morality.  I  am  a 
man  apart,  and  I  accept  nobody's  conditions.  I 
tell  you  always,  Josephine,  that  these  are  the  fool- 
ish phrases  of  mediocre  people  who  wish  to  fetter 
the  great.  They  do  not  apply  to  me.  I  will  never 
consent  to  frame  my  conduct  by  the  puerile  ar- 
rangements of  society." 

"  Have  you  no  feeling  then?  "  sobbed  the  Em- 
press. 

"  A  great  man  is  not  made  for  feeling.  It  is 
for  him  to  decide  what  he  shall  do,  and  then  to  do 
it  without  interference  from  anyone.  It  is  your 
place,  Josephine,  to  submit  to  all  my  fancies,  and 
you  should  think  it  quite  natural  that  I  should 
allow  myself  some  latitude." 

It  was  a  favourite  device  of  the  Emperor's, 
when  he  was  in  the  wrong  upon  one  point,  to 
turn  the  conversation  round  so  as  to  get  upon 
some  other  one  on  which  he  was  in  the  right. 
Having  worked  off  the  first  explosion  of  his  pas- 
sion, he  now  assumed  the  offensive,  for  in  argu- 


242  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

ment,  as  in  war,  his  instinct  was  always  to  at- 
tack. 

"  I  have  been  looking  over  Lenormand's  ac- 
counts, Josephine,"  said  he.  "  Are  you  aware  how 
many  dresses  you  have  had  last  year?  You  have 
had  a  hundred  and  forty — no  less — and  many  of 
them  cost  as  much  as  twenty-five  thousand  livres. 
I  am  told  that  you  have  six  hundred  dresses  in 
your  wardrobes,  many  of  which  have  hardly  ever 
been  used.  Madame  de  Remusat  knows  that  what 
I  say  is  true.  She  cannot  deny  it." 

"  You  like  me  to  dress  well,  Napoleon." 

"  I  will  not  have  such  monstrous  extravagance. 
I  could  have  two  regiments  of  cuirassiers,  or  a 
fleet  of  frigates,  with  the  money  which  you  squan- 
der upon  foolish  silks  and  furs.  It  might  turn  the 
fortunes  of  a  campaign.  Then  again,  Josephine, 
who  gave  you  permission  to  order  that  parure  of 
diamonds  and  sapphires  from  Lefebvre?  The  bill 
has  been  sent  to  me  and  I  have  refused  to  pay 
for  it.  If  he  applies  again,  I  shall  have  him  marched 
to  prison  between  a  file  of  grenadiers,  and  your 
milliner  shall  accompany  him  there." 

The  Emperor's  fits  of  anger,  although  tern- 


JOSEPHINE.  243 

pestuous,  were  never  very  prolonged.  The  curi- 
ous convulsive  wriggle  of  one  of  his  arms,  which 
always  showed  when  he  was  excited,  gradually 
died  away,  and  after  looking  for  some  time  at  the 
papers  of  de  Meneval — who  had  written  away  like 
an  automaton  during  all  this  uproar — he  came 
across  to  the  fire  with  a  smile  ,upon  his  lips,  and 
a  brow  from  which  the  shadow  had  departed. 

"  You  have  no  excuse  for  extravagance,  Jose- 
phine," said  he,  laying  his  hand  upon  her  shoulder. 
"  Diamonds  and  fine  dresses  are  very  necessary  to 
an  ugly  woman  in  order  to  make  her  attractive, 
but  you  cannot  need  them  for  such  a  purpose. 
You  had  no  fine  dresses  when  first  I  saw  you  in 
the  Rue  Chautereine,  and  yet  there  was  no  woman 
in  the  world  who  ever  attracted  me  so.  Why  will 
you  vex  me,  Josephine,  and  make  me  say  things 
which  seem  unkind?  Drive  back,  little  one,  to 
Pont  des  Briques,  and  see  that  you  do  not  catch 
cold." 

"  You  will  come  to  the  salon,  Napoleon? " 
asked  the  Empress,  whose  bitterest  resentment 
seemed  to  vanish  in  an  instant  at  the  first  kindly 
touch  from  his  hand.  She  still  held  her  handker- 


244  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

chief  before  her  eyes,  but  it  was  chiefly,  I  think, 
to  conceal  the  effect  which  her  tears  had  had  upon 
her  cheeks. 

'  Yes,  yes,  I  will  come.  Our  carriages  will 
follow  yours.  See  the  ladies  into  the  berline,  Con- 
stant. Have  you  ordered  the  embarkation  of  the 
troops,  Berthier?  Come  here,  Talleyrand,  for  I 
wish  to  describe  my  views  about  the  future  of 
Spain  and  Portugal.  Monsieur  de  Laval,  you  may 
escort  the  Empress  to  Pont  des  Briques,  where  I 
shall  see  you  at  the  reception." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   RECEPTION    OF   TIT#  EMPRESS. 

PONT  DES  BRIQUES  is  but  a  small  village,  and 
this  sudden  arrival  of  the  Court,  which  was  to  re- 
main for  some  weeks,  had  crammed  it  with  Visitors. 
It  would  have  been  very  much  simpler  to  have 
come  to  Boulogne,  where  there  were  more  suit- 
able buildings  and  better  accommodation,  but 
Napoleon  had  named  Pont  des  Briques,  so  Pont 
des  Briques  it  had  to  be.  The  word  impossible 
was  not  permitted  amongst  those  who  had  to 
carry  out  his  wishes.  So  an  army  of  cooks  and 
footmen  settled  upon  the  little  place,  and  then 
there  arrived  the  dignitaries  of  the  new  Empire, 
and  then  the  ladies  of  the  Court,  and  then  their 
admirers  from  the  camp.  The  Empress  had  a  cha- 
teau for  her  accommodation.  The  rest  quartered 
themselves  in  cottages  or  where  they  best  might, 

and  waited  ardently  for  the  moment  which  was 

245 


246  UNCLE   EERNAC. 

to  take  them  back  to  the  comforts  of  Versailles  or 
Fontainebleau. 

The  Empress  had  graciously  offered  me  a  seat 
in  her  berline,  and  all  the  way  to  the  village,  en- 
tirely forgetful  apparently  of  the  scene  through 
which  she  passed,  she  chatted  away,  asking  me  a 
thousand  personal  questions  about  myself  and  my 
affairs,  for  a  kindly  curiosity  in  the  doings  of  every- 
one around  her  was  one  of  her  most  marked  char- 
acteristics. Especially  was  she  interested  in  Eu- 
genie, and  as  the  subject  was  one  upon  which  I 
was  equally  interested  in  talking  it  ended  in  a 
rhapsody  upon  my  part,  amid  little  sympathetic 
ejaculations  from  the  Empress  and  titterings  from 
Madame  de  Remusat. 

"  But  you  must  certainly  bring  her  over  to  the 
Court !  "  cried  the  kindly  woman.  "  Such  a  para- 
gon of  beauty  and  of  virtue  must  not  be  allowed 
to  waste  herself  in  this  English  village.  Have  you 
spoken  about  her  to  the  Emperor?  " 

"  I  found  that  he  knew  all  about  her,  your 
Majesty." 

"  He  knows  all  about  everything.  Oh,  what  a 
man  he  is!  You  heard  him  about  those  diamonds 


THE   RECEPTION   OF  THE   EMPRESS.          247 

and  sapphires.  Lefebvre  gave  me  his  word  that  no 
one  should  know  of  it  but  ourselves,  and  that  I 
should  pay  at  my  leisure,  and  yet  you  see  that  the 
Emperor  knew.  But  what  did  he  say,  Monsieur 
de  Laval?" 

"  He  said  that  my  marriage  should  be  his  af- 
fair." 

Josephine  shook  her  head  and  groaned. 

"  But  this  is  serious,  Monsieur  de  Laval.  He 
is  capable  of  singling  out  any  one  of  the  ladies  of 
the  Court  and  marrying  you  to  her  within  a  week. 
It  is  a  subject  upon  which  he  will  not  listen  to 
argument.  He  has  brought  about  some  extraor- 
dinary matches  in  this  way.  But  I  will  speak  to 
the  Emperor  before  I  return  to  Paris,  and  I  will 
see  what  I  can  arrange  for  you." 

I  was  still  endeavouring  to  thank  her  for  her 
sympathy  and  kindness  when  the  berline  rattled 
up  the  drive  and  pulled  up  at  the  entrance  to  the 
chateau,  where  the  knot  of  scarlet  footmen  and 
the  bearskins  of  two  sentries  from  the  Guards 
announced  the  Imperial  quarters.  The  Empress 
and  her  lady  hurried  away  to  prepare  their  toilets 

for  the  evening,  and  I  was  shown  at  once  into  the 
17 


248  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

salon,  in  which  the  guests  had  already  begun  to 
assemble. 

This  was  a  large  square  room  furnished  as  mod- 
estly as  the  sitting-room  of  a  provincial  gentle- 
man would  be  likely  to  be.  The  wall-paper  was 
gloomy,  and  the  furniture  was  of  dark  mahogany 
upholstered  in  faded  blue  nankeen,  but  there  were 
numerous  candles  in  candelabra  upon  the  tables 
and  in  sconces  upon  the  walls  which  gave  an  air 
of  festivity  even  to  these  sombre  surroundings. 
Out  of  the  large  central  room  were  several  smaller 
ones  in  which  card-tables  had  been  laid  out,  and 
the  doorways  between  had  been  draped  with  Ori- 
ental chintz.  A  number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen 
were  standing  about,  the  former  in  the  high  even- 
ing dresses  to  which  the  Emperor  had  given  his 
sanction,  the  latter  about  equally  divided  between 
the  civilians  in  black  court  costumes  and  the  sol- 
diers in  their  uniforms.  Bright  colours  and  grace- 
ful draperies  predominated,  for  in  spite  of  his  lec- 
tures about  economy  the  Emperor  was  very  harsh 
to  any  lady  who  did  not  dress  in  a  manner  which 
would  sustain  the  brilliancy  of  his  Court.  The 
prevailing  fashions  gave  an  opening  to  taste  and 


THE    RECEPTION    OF   THE    EMPRESS. 


249 


to  display,  for  the  simple  classical  costumes  had 
died  out  with  the  Republic,  and  oriental  dresses 
had  taken  their  place  as  a  compliment  to  the  Con- 
queror of  Egypt.  Lucretia  had  changed  to  Zulei- 
ka,  and  the  salons  which  had  reflected  the  auster- 
ity of  old  Rome  had  turned  suddenly  into  so  many 
Eastern  harems. 

On  entering  the  room  I  had  retired  into  a 
corner,  fearing  that  I  should  find  none  there  whom 
I  knew;  but  someone  plucked  at  my  arm,  and 
turning  round  I  found  myself  looking  into  the 
yellow  inscrutable  face  of  my  Uncle  Bernac.  He 
seized  my  unresponsive  hand  and  wrung  it  with  a 
false  cordiality. 

"  My  dear  Louis,"  said  he.  "  It  was  really  the 
hope  of  meeting  you  here  which  brought  me  over 
from  Grosbois — although  you  can  understand  that 
living  so  far  from  Paris  I  cannot  afford  to  miss 
such  an  opportunity  of  showing  myself  at  Court. 
Nevertheless  I  can  assure  you  that  it  was  of  you 
principally  that  I  was  thinking.  I  hear  that  you 
have  had  a  splendid  reception  from  the  Emperor, 
and  that  you  have  been  taken  into  his  personal 
service.  I  had  spoken  to  him  about  you,  and  I 


250  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

made  him  fully  realise  that  if  he  treats  you  well 
he  is  likely  to  coax  some  of  the  other  young 
emigres  into  his  service." 

I  was  convinced  that  he  was  lying,  but  none 
the  less  I  had  to  bow  and  utter  a  few  words  of 
cold  thanks. 

"  I  see  that  you  still  bear  me  some  grudge  for 
what  passed  between  us  the  other  day/'  said  he, 
"  but  really,  my  dear  Louis,  you  have  no  occasion 
to  do  so.  It  was  your  own  good  which  I  had 
chiefly  at  heart.  I  am  neither  a  young  nor  a 
strong  man,  Louis,  and  my  profession,  as  you  have 
seen,  is  a  dangerous  one.  There  is  my  child,  and 
there  is  my  estate.  Who  takes  one,  takes  both. 
Sibylle  is  a  charming  girl,  and  you  must  not  allow 
yourself  to  be  prejudiced  against  her  by  any  ill 
temper  which  she  may  have  shown  towards  me. 
I  will  confess  that  she  had  some  reason  to  be  an- 
noyed at  the  turn  which  things  had  taken.  But 
I  hope  to  hear  that  you  have  now  thought  better 
upon  this  matter." 

"  I  have  never  thought  about  it  at  all,  and  I 
beg  that  you  will  not  discuss  it,"  said  I  curtly. 

He  stood  in  deep  thought  for  a  few  moments, 


THE  RECEPTION   OF   THE   EMPRESS.          251 

and  then  he  raised  his  evil  face  and  his  cruel  grey 
eyes  to  mine. 

"Well,  well,  that  is  settled  then,"  said  he. 
"  But  you  cannot  bear  me  a  grudge  for  having 
wished  you  to  be  my  successor.  Be  reasonable, 
Louis.  You  must  acknowledge  that  you  would 
now  be  six  feet  deep  in  the  salt-marsh  with  your 
neck  broken  if  I  had  not  stood  your  friend,  at 
some  risk  to  myself.  Is  that  not  true?  " 

"  You  had  your  own  motive  for  that,"  said  I. 

"  Very  likely.  But  none  the  less  I  saved  you. 
Why  should  you  bear  me  ill  will.  It  is  no  fault 
of  mine  if  I  hold  your  estate." 

"  It  is  not  on  account  of  that." 

"  Why  is  it  then?  " 

I  could  have  explained  that  it  was  because  he 
had  betrayed  his  comrades,  because  his  daughter 
hated  him,  because  he  had  ill-used  his  wife,  be- 
cause my  father  regarded  him  as  the  source  of  all 
his  troubles — but  the  salon  of  the  Empress  was 
no  place  for  a  family  quarrel,  so  I  merely  shrugged 
my  shoulders,  and  was  silent. 

"  Well,  I  am  very  sorry,"  said  he,  "  for  I  had 
the  best  of  intentions  towards  you.  I  could  have 


252 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 


advanced  you,  for  there  are  few  men  in  France 
who  exercise  more  influence.  But  I  have  one  re- 
quest to  make  to  you." 

"  What  is  that,  sir?  " 

"  I  have  a  number  of  personal  articles,  belong- 
ing to  your  father — his  sword,  his  seals,  a  deskful 
of  letters,  some  silver  plate — such  things  in  short 
as  you  would  wish  to  keep  in  memory  of  him.  I 
should  be  glad  if  you  will  come  to  Grosbois — if 
it  is  only  for  one  night — and  look  over  these 
things,  choosing  what  you  wish  to  take  away.  My 
conscience  will  then  be  clear  about  them." 

I  promised  readily  that  I  would  do  so. 

"  And  when  would  you  come? "  he  asked 
eagerly.  Something  in  the  tone  of  his  voice 
aroused  my  suspicions,  and  glancing  at  him  I  saw 
exultation  in  his  eyes.  I  remembered  the  warning 
of  Sibylle. 

"  I  cannot  come  until  I  have  learned  what  my 
duties  with  the  Emperor  are  to  be.  When  that 
is  settled  I  shall  come." 

>l  Very  good.  Next  week  perhaps,  or  the 
week  afterwards.  I  shall  expect  you  eagerly, 
Louis.  I  rely  upon  your  promise,  for  a  Laval  was 


THE   RECEPTION  OF  THE   EMPRESS. 


253 


never  known  to  break  one."  With  another  un- 
answered squeeze  of  my  hand,  he  slipped  off 
among  the  crowd,  which  was  growing  denser  every 
instant  in  the  salon. 

I  was  standing  in  silence  thinking  over  this 
sinister  invitation  of  my  uncle's,  when  I  heard  my 
own  name,  and,  looking  up,  I  saw  de  Caulain- 
court,  with  his  brown  handsome  face  and  tall  ele- 
gant figure,  making  his  way  towards  me. 

"  It  is  your  first  entrance  at  Court,  is  it  not, 
Monsieur  de  Laval,"  said  he  in  his  high-bred  cor- 
dial manner;  "  you  should  not  feel  lonely,  for  there 
are  certainly  many  friends  of  your  father  here  who 
will  be  overjoyed  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  your 
father's  son.  From  what  de  Meneval  told  me  I 
gather  that  you  know  hardly  anyone — even  by 
sight." 

"  I  know  the  Marshals,"  said  I;  "  I  saw  them 
all  at  the  council  in  the  Emperor's  tent.  There 
is  Ney  with  the  red  head.  And  there  is  Lefebvre 
with  his  singular  mouth,  and  Bernadotte  with  the 
beak  of  a  bird  of  prey." 

"  Precisely.  And  that  is  Rapp,  with  the  round, 
bullet  head.  He  is  talking  to  Junot,  the  hand- 


254 


UNCLE   BERNAC. 


some  dark  man  with  the  whiskers.  These  poor 
soldiers  are  very  unhappy." 

"Why  so?"  I  asked. 

"  Because  they  are  all  men  who  have  risen  from 
nothing.  This  society  and  etiquette  terrifies  them 
much  more  than  all  the  dangers  of  war.  When 
they  can  hear  their  sabres  clashing  against  their 
big  boots  they  feel  at  home,  but  when  they  have 
to  stand  about  with  their  cocked  hats  under  their 
arms,  and  have  to  pick  their  spurs  out  of  the  ladies' 
trains,  and  talk  about  David's  picture  or  Passiello's 
opera,  it  prostrates  them.  The  Emperor  will  not 
even  permit  them  to  swear,  although  he  has  no 
scruples  upon  his  own  account.  He  tells  them 
to  be  soldiers  with  the  army,  and  courtiers  with 
the  court,  but  the  poor  fellows  cannot  help  being 
soldiers  all  the  time.  Look  at  Rapp  with  his 
twenty  wounds,  endeavouring  to  exchange  little 
delicate  drolleries  with  that  young  lady.  There, 
you  see,  he  has  said  something  which  would  have 
passed  very  well  with  a  vivandiere,  but  it  has 
made  her  fly  to  her  mamma,  and  he  is  scratching 
his  head,  for  he  cannot  imagine  how  he  has  of- 
fended her," 


THE   RECEPTION   OF   THE   EMPRESS.          255 

"  Who  is  the  beautiful  woman  with  the  white 
dress  and  the  tiara  of  diamonds?  "  I  asked. 

"  That  is  Madame  Murat,  who  is  the  sister  of 
the  Emperor.  Caroline  is  beautiful,  but  she  is 
not  as  pretty  as  her  sister  Marie,  wrhom  you  see 
over  yonder  in  the  corner.  Do  you  see  the  tall, 
stately,  dark-eyed  old  lady  with  whom  she  is  talk- 
ing? That  is  Napoleon's  mother — a  wonderful 
woman,  the  source  of  all  their  strength,  shrewd, 
brave,  vigorous,  forcing  respect  from  everyone 
who  knows  her.  She  is  as  careful  and  as  saving 
as  when  she  was  the  wife  of  a  small  country  gen- 
tleman in  Corsica,  and  it  is  no  secret  that  she  has 
little  confidence  in  the  permanence  of  the  present 
state  of  things,  and  that  she  is  always  laying  by 
for  an  evil  day.  The  Emperor  does  not  know 
whether  to  be  amused  or  exasperated  by  her  pre- 
cautions. Well,  Murat,  I  suppose  we  shall  see 
you  riding  across  the  Kentish  hop-fields  before 
long." 

The  famous  soldier  had  paused  opposite  to  us, 
and  shook  hands  with  my  companion.  His  ele- 
gant well-knit  figure,  large  fiery  eyes,  and  noble 
bearing  made  this  innkeeper's  boy  a  man  who 


256  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

would  have  drawn  attention  and  admiration  to 
himself  in  any  assembly  in  Europe.  His  mop  of 
curly  hair  and  thick  red  lips  gave  that  touch  of 
character  and  individuality  to  his  appearance  which 
redeem  a  handsome  face  from  insipidity. 

"  I  am  told  that  it  is  devilish  bad  country  for 
cavalry — all  cut  up  into  hedges  and  ditches,"  said 
he.  "  The  roads  are  good,  but  the  fields  are  im- 
possible. I  hope  that  we  are  going  soon,  Mon- 
sieur de  Caulaincourt,  for  our  men  will  all  settle 
down  as  gardeners  if  this  continues.  They  are 
learning  more  about  watering-pots  and  spuds  than 
about  horses  and  sabres." 

"  The  army,  I  hear,  is  to  embark  to-morrow." 

"  Yes,  yes,  but  you  know  very  well  that  they 
will  disembark  again  upon  the  wrong  side  of  the 
Channel.  Unless  Villeneuve  scatters  the  English 
fleet,  nothing  can  be  attempted." 

"  Constant  tells  me  that  the  Emperor  was 
whistling  '  Malbrook '  all  the  time  that  he  was 
dressing  this  morning,  and  that  usually  comes  be- 
fore a  move." 

"  It  was  very  clever  of  Constant  to  tell  what 
tune  it  was  which  the  Emperor  was  whistling," 


THE   RECEPTION   OF   THE   EMPRESS.  257 

said  Murat  laughing.  "  For  my  part  I  do  not 
think  that  he  knows  the  difference  between  the 
'  Malbrook '  and  the  Marseillaise/  Ah,  here  is 
the  Empress — and  how  charming  she  is  look- 
ing." 

Josephine  had  entered,  with  several  of  her 
ladies  in  her  train,  and  the  whole  assembly  rose 
to  do  her  honour.  The  Empress  was  dressed  in 
an  evening  gown  of  rose-coloured  tulle,  spangled 
with  silver  stars — an  effect  which  might  have 
seemed  meretricious  and  theatrical  in  another 
woman,  but  which  she  carried  off  with  great  grace 
and  dignity.  A  little  sheaf  of  diamond  wheat-ears 
rose  above  her  head,  and  swayed  gently  as  she 
walked.  No  one  could  entertain  more  charmingly 
than  she,  for  she  moved  about  among  the  people 
with  her  amiable  smile,  setting  everybody  at  their 
ease  by  her  kindly  natural  manner,  and  by  the 
conviction  which  she  gave  them  that  she  was  thor- 
oughly at  her  ease  herself. 

"  How  amiable  she  is!  "  I  exclaimed.  "Who 
could  help  loving  her?  " 

"  There  is  only  one  family  which  can  resist 
her,"  said  de  Caulaincourt,  glancing  round  to  see 


258  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

that  Murat  was  out  of  hearing.  "  Look  at  the 
faces  of  the  Emperor's  sisters." 

I  was  shocked  when  I  followed  his  direction  to 
see  the  malignant  glances  with  which  these  two 
beautiful  women  were  following  the  Empress  as 
she  walked  about  the  room.  They  whispered  to- 
gether and  tittered  maliciously.  Then  Madame 
Murat  turned  to  her  mother  behind  her,  and  the 
stern  old  lady  tossed  her  haughty  head  in  derision 
and  contempt. 

'  They  feel  that  Napoleon  is  theirs  and  that 
they  ought  to  have  everything.  They  cannot  bear 
to  think  that  she  is  Her  Imperial  Majesty  and  they 
are  only  Her  Highness.  They  all  hate  her,  Joseph, 
Lucien — all  of  them.  When  they  had  to  carry 
her  train  at  the  coronation  they  tried  to  trip  her 
up,  and  the  Emperor  had  to  interfere.  Oh  yes, 
they  have  the  real  Corsican  blood,  and  they  are 
not  very  comfortable  people  to  get  along  with." 

But  in  spite  of  the  evident  hatred  of  her  hus- 
band's family,  the  Empress  appeared  to  be  entirely 
unconcerned  and  at  her  ease  as  she  strolled  about 
among  the  groups  of  her  guests  with  a  kindly 
glance  and  a  pleasant  word  for  each  of  them.  A 


THE   RECEPTION   OF   THE   EMPRESS.  259 

tall,  soldierly  man,  brown-faced  and  moustached, 
walked  beside  her,  and  she  occasionally  laid  her 
hand  with  a  caressing  motion  upon  his  arm. 

"  That  is  her  son,  Eugene  de  Beauharnais," 
said  my  companion. 

"  Her  son!  "  I  exclaimed,  for  he  seemed  to  me 
to  be  the  older  of  the  two. 

De  Caulaincourt  smiled  at  my  surprise. 

"  You  know  she  married  Beauharnais  when  she 
was  very  young — in  fact  she  was  hardly  sixteen. 
She  has  been  sitting  in  her  boudoir  while  her  son 
has  been  baking  in  Egypt  and  Syria,  so  that  they 
have  pretty  well  bridged  over  the  gap  between 
them.  Do  you  see  the  tall,  handsome,  clean- 
shaven man  who  has  just  kissed  Josephine's  hand? 
That  is  Talma  the  famous  actor.  He  once  helped 
Napoleon  at  a  critical  moment  of  his  career,  and 
the  Emperor  has  never  forgotten  the  debt  which 
the  Consul  contracted.  That  is  really  the  secret 
of  Talleyrand's  power.  He  lent  Napoleon  a  hun- 
dred thousand  francs  before  he  set  out  for  Egypt, 
and  now,  however  much  he  distrusts  him,  the  Em- 
peror cannot  forget  that  old  kindness.  I  have 
never  known  him  to  abandon  a  friend  or  to  forgive 


260  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

an  enemy.  If  you  have  once  served  him  well  you 
may  do  what  you  like  afterwards.  There  is  one  of 
his  coachmen  who  is  drunk  from  morning  to  night. 
But  he  gained  the  cross  at  Marengo,  and  so  he  is 
safe." 

De  Caulaincourt  had  moved  on  to  speak  with 
some  lady,  and  I  was  again  left  to  my  own 
thoughts,  which  turned  upon  this  extraordinary 
man,  who  presented  himself  at  one  moment  as  a 
hero  and  at  another  as  a  spoiled  child,  with  his 
nobler  and  his  worse  side  alternating  so  rapidly 
that  I  had  no  sooner  made  up  my  mind  about  him 
than  some  new  revelation  would  destroy  my  views 
and  drive  me  to  some  fresh  conclusion.  That  he 
was  necessary  to  France  was  evident,  and  that  in 
serving  him  one  was  serving  one's  country.  But 
was  it  an  honour  or  a  penance  to  serve  him? 
Was  he  worthy  merely  of  obedience,  or  might 
love  and  esteem  be  added  to  it?  These  were  the 
questions  which  we  found  it  difficult  to  answer — 
and  some  of  us  will  never  have  answered  them  up 
to  the  end  of  time. 

The  company  had  now  lost  all  appearance  of 
formality,  and  even  the  soldiers  seemed  to  be  at 


THE   RECEPTION   OF   THE    EMPRESS.  26l 

their  ease.     Many  had  gone  into  the  side  rooms, 

where  they  had  formed  tables  for  whist  and  for 

>     4-  A  " 

vmgt-et-un.  For  my  own  part  I  was  quite  enter- 
tained by  watching  the  people,  the  beautiful 
women,  the  handsome  men,  the  bearers  of  names 
which  had  been  heard  of  in  no  previous  genera- 
tion, but  which  now  rung  round  the  world.  Im- 
mediately in  front  of  me  were  Ney,  Lannes,  and 
Murat  chatting  together  and  laughing  with  the 
freedom  of  the  camp.  Of  the  three,  two  were  des- 
tined to  be  executed  in  cold  blood,  and  the  third 
to  die  upon  the  battle-field,  but  no  coming  shadow 
ever  cast  a  gloom  upon  their  cheery,  full-blooded 
lives. 

A  small,  silent,  middle-aged  man,  who  looked 
unhappy  and  ill  at  ease,  had  been  leaning  against 
the  wall  beside  me.  Seeing  that  he  was  as  great  a 
stranger  as  myself,  I  addressed  some  observation 
to  him,  to  which  he  replied  with  great  good  will, 
but  in  the  most  execrable  French. 

'You  don't  happen  to  understand  English?  " 
he  asked.  "  I've  never  met  one  living  soul  in  this 
country  who  did." 

"  Oh  yes,  I  understand  it  very  well,  for  I  have 


262  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

lived  most  of  my  life  over  yonder.  But  surely  you 
are  not  English,  sir.  I  understood  that  every 
Englishman  in  France  was  under  lock  and  key 
ever  since  the  breach  of  the  treaty  of  Amiens." 

"  No,  I  am  not  English,"  he  answered,  "  I  am 
an  American.  My  name  is  Robert  Fulton,  and  I 
have  to  come  to  these  receptions  because  it  is  the 
only  way  in  which  I  can  keep  myself  in  the  mem- 
ory of  the  Emperor,  who  is  examining  some  inven- 
tions of  mine  which  will  make  great  changes  in 
naval  warfare." 

Having  nothing  else  to  do,  I  asked  this  curi- 
ous American  what  his  inventions  might  be,  and 
his  replies  very  soon  convinced  me  that  I  had  to 
do  with  a  madman.  He  had  some  idea  of  making 
a  ship  go  against  the  wind  and  against  the  current 
by  means  of  coal  or  wood  which  was  to  be  burned 
inside  of  her.  There  was  some  other  nonsense 
about  floating  barrels  full  of  gunpowder  which 
would  blow  a  ship  to  pieces  if  she  struck  against 
them.  I  listened  to  him  at  the  time  with  an  in- 
dulgent smile,  but  now  looking  back  from  the 
point  of  vantage  of  my  old  age  I  can  see  that  not 
all  the  warriors  and  statesmen  in  that  room — no, 


THE   RECEPTION   OF   THE   EMPRESS.          263 

not  even  the  Emperor  himself — have  had  as  great 
an  effect  upon  the  history  of  the  world  as  that 
silent  American  who  looked  so  drab  and  so  com- 
monplace among  the  gold-slashed  uniforms  and 
the  oriental  dresses. 

But  suddenly  our  conversation  was  interrupted 
by  a  hush  in  the  room — such  a  cold,  uncomfortable 
hush  as  comes  over  a  roomful  of  happy,  romping 
children  when  a  grave-faced  elder  comes  amongst 
them.  The  chatting  and  the  laughter  died  away. 
The  sound  of  the  rustling  cards  and  of  the  clicking 
counters  had  ceased  in  the  other  rooms.  Every- 
one, men  and  women,  had  risen  to  their  feet  with 
a  constrained  expectant  expression  upon  their 
faces.  And  there  in  the  doorway  were  the  pale 
face  and  the  green  coat  with  the  red  cordon  across 
the  white  waistcoat. 

There  was  no  saying  how  he  might  behave 
upon  these  occasions.  Sometimes  he  was  capable 
of  being  the  merriest  and  most  talkative  of  the 
company,  but  this  was  rather  in  his  consular  than 
in  his  imperial  days.  On  the  other  hand  he  might 
be  absolutely  ferocious,  with  an  insulting  observa- 
tion for  everyone  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
it 


264  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

As  a  rule  he  was  between  these  two  extremes, 
silent,  morose,  ill  at  ease,  shooting  out  curt  little 
remarks  which  made  everyone  uncomfortable. 
There  was  always  a  sigh  of  relief  when  he  would 
pass  from  one  room  into  the  next. 

On  this  occasion  he  seemed  to  have  not  wholly 
recovered  from  the  storm  of  the  afternoon,  and 
he  looked  about  him  with  a  brooding  eye  and  a 
lowering  brow.  It  chanced  that  I  was  not  very 
far  from  the  door,  and  that  his  glance  fell 
upon  me. 

"  Come  here,  Monsieur  de  Laval,"  said  he.  He 
laid  his  hand  upon  my  shoulder  and  turned  to  a 
big,  gaunt  man  who  had  accompanied  him  into 
the  room.  "  Look  here,  Cambaceres,  you  simple- 
ton," said  he.  '  You  always  said  that  the  old 
families  would  never  come  back,  and  that  they 
would  settle  in  England  as  the  Huguenots  have 
done.  You  see  that,  as  usual,  you  have  miscalcu- 
lated, for  here  is  the  heir  of  the  de  Lavals  come 
to  offer  his  services.  Monsieur  de  Laval,  you  are 
now  my  aide-de-camp,  and  I  beg  you  to  keep  with 
me  wherever  I  go." 

This  was  promotion  indeed,   and  yet   I   had 


THE   RECEPTION   OF   THE   EMPRESS. 


265 


sense  enough  to  know  that  it  was  not  for  my  own 
sweet  sake  that  the  Emperor  had  done  it,  but  in 
order  to  encourage  others  to  follow  me.  My'con- 
science  approved  what  I  had  done,  for  no  sordid 
motive  and  nothing  but  the  love  of  my  country 
had  prompted  me;  but  now,  as  I  walked  round 
behind  Napoleon,  I  felt  humiliated  and  ashamed, 
like  a  prisoner  led  behind  the  car  of  his  captor. 

And  soon  there  was  something  else  to  make 
me  ashamed,  and  that  was  the  conduct  of  him 
whose  servant  I  had  become.  His  manners  were 
outrageous.  As  he  had  himself  said,  it  was  his 
nature  to  be  always  first,  and  this  being  so  he 
resented  those  courtesies  and  gallantries  by  which 
men  are  accustomed  to  disguise  from  women  the 
fact  that  they  are  the  weaker  sex.  The  Emperor, 
unlike  Louis  XIV.,  felt  that  even  a  temporary  and 
conventional  attitude  of  humility  towards  a  wom- 
an was  too  great  a  condescension  from  his  own 
absolute  supremacy.  Chivalry  was  among  those 
conditions  of  society  which  he  refused  to  accept. 

To  the  soldiers  he  was  amiable  enough,  with  a 
nod  and  a  joke  for  each  of  them.  To  his  sisters 
also  he  said  a  few  words,  though  rather  in  the  tone 


266  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

of  a  drill  sergeant  to  a  pair  of  recruits.  It  was 
only  when  the  Empress  had  joined  him  that  his 
ill-humour  came  to  a  head. 

"  I  wish  you  would  not  wear  those  wisps  of  pink 
about  your  head,  Josephine,"  said  he,  pettishly. 
"  All  that  women  have  to  think  about  is  how  to 
dress  themselves,  and  yet  they  cannot  even  do  that 
with  moderation  or  taste.  If  I  see  you  again  in 
such  a  thing  I  will  thrust  it  in  the  fire  as  I  did 
your  shawl  the  other  day." 

'  You  are  so  hard  to  please,  Napoleon.  You 
like  one  day  what  you  cannot  abide  the  next.  But 
I  will  certainly  change  it  if  it  offends  you,"  said 
Josephine,  with  admirable  patience. 

The  Emperor  took  a  few  steps  between  the 
people,  who  had  formed  a  lane  for  us  to  pass 
through.  Then  he  stopped  and  looked  over  his 
shoulder  at  the  Empress. 

"  How  often  have  I  told  you,  Josephine,  that  I 
cannot  tolerate  fat  women." 

"  I  always  bear  it  in  mind,  Napoleon." 
"  Then  why  is  Madame  de  Chevreux  present?  " 
"  But  surely,  Napoleon,  madame  is  not  very 
fat." 


THE  RECEPTION  OF   THE   EMPRESS.          267 

"  She  is  fatter  than  she  should  be.  I  should 
prefer  not  to  see  her.  Who  is  this?  "  He  had 
paused  before  a  young  lady  in  a  blue  dress,  whose 
knees  seemed  to  be  giving  way  under  her  as  the 
terrible  Emperor  transfixed  her  with  his  searching 
eyes. 

"  This  is  Mademoiselle  de  Bergerot." 

"  How  old  are  you?  " 

"  Twenty-three,  Sire." 

"  It  is  time  that  you  were  married.  Every 
woman  should  be  married  at  twenty-three.  How 
is  it  that  you  are  not  married?  " 

The  poor  girl  appeared  to  be  incapable  of  an- 
swering, so  the  Empress  gently  remarked  that 
it  was  to  the  young  men  that  that  question  should 
be  addressed. 

"  Oh,  that  is  the  difficulty,  is  it,"  said  the  Em- 
peror. "  We  must  look  about  and  find  a  husband 
for  you."  He  turned,  and  to  my  horror  I  found  his 
eyes  fixed  with  a  questioning  gaze  upon  my  face. 

"  We  have  to  find  you  a  wife  also,  Monsieur  de 
Laval,"  said  he.  "Well,  well,  we  shall  see — we 
shall  see.  What  is  your  name?  "  to  a  quiet  refined 
man  in  black. 


268  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"  I  am  Gretry  the  musician." 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  remember  you.  I  have  seen  you 
a  hundred  times,  but  I  can  never  recall  your  name. 
Who  are  you?  " 

"  I  am  Joseph  de  Chenier." 

"  Of  course.  I  have  seen  your  tragedy.  I  have 
forgotten  the  name  of  it,  but  it  was  not  good. 
You  have  written  some  other  poetry,  have  you 
not?" 

"  Yes,  Sire.  I  had  your  permission  to  dedicate 
my  last  volume  to  you." 

"  Very  likely,  but  I  have  not  had  time  to  read 
it.  It  is  a  pity  that  we  have  no  poets  now  in 
France,  for  the  deeds  of  the  last  few  years  would 
have  given  a  subject  for  a  Homer  or  a  Virgil.  It 
seems  that  I  can  create  kingdoms  but  not  poets. 
Whom  do  you  consider  to  be  the  greatest  French 
writer?  " 

"  Racine,  Sire." 

"  Then  you  are  a  blockhead,  for  Corneille  was 
infinitely  greater.  I  have  no  ear  for  metre  or 
trivalities  of  the  kind,  but  I  can  sympathise  with 
the  spirit  of  poetry,  and  I  am  conscious  that  Cor- 
neille is  far  the  greatest  of  poets.  I  would  have 


THE   RECEPTION   OF   THE  EMPRESS.          269 

made  him  my  prime  minister  had  he  had  the  good 
fortune  to  live  in  my  epoch.  It  is  his  intellect 
which  I  admire,  his  knowledge  of  the  human  heart, 
and  his  profound  feeling.  Are  you  writing  any- 
thing at  present?  " 

"  I  am  writing  a  tragedy  upon  Henry  IV., 
Sire." 

"  It  will  not  do,  sir.  It  is  too  near  the  present 
day,  and  I  will  not  have  politics  upon  the  stage. 
Write  a  play  about  Alexander.  What  is  your 
name?  " 

He  had  pitched  upon  the  same  person  whom 
he  had  already  addressed. 

"  I  am  still  Gretry  the  musician,"  said  he 
meekly. 

The  Emperor  flushed  for  an  instant  at  the  im- 
plied rebuke.  He  said  nothing,  however,  but 
passed  on  to  where  several  ladies  were  standing 
together  near  the  door  of  the  card-room. 

"  Well,  madame,"  said  he  to  the  nearest  of 
them,  "  I  hope  you  are  behaving  rather  better. 
When  last  I  heard  from  Paris  your  doings  were 
furnishing  the  Quartier  St.  Germaine  with  a  good 
deal  of  amusement  and  gossip." 


270  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"  I  beg  that  your  Majesty  will  explain  what 
you  mean,"  said  she  with  spirit. 

"  They  had  coupled  your  name  with  that  of 
Colonel  Lasalle." 

"  It  is  a  foul  calumny,  Sire." 

"  Very  possibly,  but  it  is  awkward  when  so 
many  calumnies  cluster  round  one  person.  You 
are  certainly  a  most  unfortunate  lady  in  that  re- 
spect. You  had  a  scandal  once  before  with  Gen- 
eral Rapp's  aide-de-camp.  This  must  come  to  an 
end.  What  is  your  name?  "  he  continued,  turn- 
ing to  another. 

"  Mademoiselle  de  Perigord."   • 

"  Your  age?  " 

"  Twenty." 

"  You  are  very  thin  and  your  elbows  are  red. 
My  God,  Madame  Boismaison,  are  we  never  to  see 
anything  but  this  same  grey  gown  and  the  red 
turban  with  the  diamond  crescent?" 

"  I  have  never  worn  it  before,  Sire." 

"  Then  you  had  another  the  same,  for  I  am 
weary  of  the  sight  of  it.  Let  me  never  see  you  in 
it  again.  Monsieur  de  Remusat,  I  make  you  a 
good  allowance.  Why  do  you  not  spend  it?  " 


THE  RECEPTION   OF   THE   EMPRESS. 


271 


"  I  do,  Sire." 

"  I  hear  that  you  have  been  putting  down  your 
carnage.  I  do  not  give  you  money  to  hoard  in  a 
bank,  but  I  give  it  to  you  that  you  may  keep  up  a 
fitting  appearance  with  it.  Let  me  hear  that  your 
carriage  is  back  in  the  coach-house  when  I  return 
to  Paris.  Junot,  you  rascal,  I  hear  that  you  have 
been  gambling  and  losing." 

"  The  most  infernal  run  of  luck,  Sire,"  said  the 
soldier,  "  I  give  you  my  word  that  the  ace  fell 
four  times  running." 

"  Ta,  ta,  you  are  a  child,  with  no  sense  of  the 
value  of  money.  How  much  do  you  owe?  " 

"  Forty  thousand,  Sire." 

"  Well,  well,  go  to  Lebrun  and  see  what  he 
can  do  for  you.  After  all  we  were  together  at 
Toulon." 

"  A  thousand  thanks,  Sire." 

"Tut!  You  and  Rapp  and  Lasalle  are  the 
spoiled  children  of  the  army.  But  no  more  cards, 
you  rascal!  I  do  not  like  low  dresses,  Madame 
Picard.  They  spoil  even  pretty  women,  but  in 
you  they  are  inexcusable.  Now,  Josephine,  I  am 
going  to  my  room,  and  you  can  come  in  half  an 


272  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

hour  and  read  me  to  sleep.  I  am  tired  to-night, 
but  I  came  to  your  salon,  since  you  desired  that  I 
should  help  you  in  welcoming  and  entertaining 
your  guests.  You  can  remain  here,  Monsieur  de 
Laval,  for  your  presence  will  not  be  necessary  until 
I  send  you  my  orders." 

And  so  the  door  closed  behind  him,  and  with 
a  long  sigh  of  relief  from  everyone,  from  the  Em- 
press to  the  waiter  with  the  negus,  the  friendly 
chatter  began  once  more,  with  the  click  of  the 
counters  and  the  rustle  of  the  cards  just  as  they 
had  been  before  he  came  to  help  in  the  entertain- 
ment. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE    LIBRARY    OF    GROSBOIS. 

AND  now,  my  friends,  I  am  coming  to  the  end 
of  those  singular  adventures  which  I  encountered 
upon  my  arrival  in  France,  adventures  which  might 
have  been  of  some  interest  in  themselves  had  I 
not  introduced  the  figure  of  the  Emperor,  who 
has  eclipsed  them  all  as  completely  as  the  sun 
eclipses  the  stars.  Even  now,  you  see,  after  all 
these  years,  in  an  old  man's  memoirs,  the  Em- 
peror is  still  true  to  his  traditions,  and  will  not 
brook  any  opposition.  As  I  draw  his  words  and 
his  deeds  I  feel  that  my  own  poor  story  withers 
before  them.  And  yet  if  it  had  not  been  for  that 
story  I  should  not  have  had  an  excuse  for  describ- 
ing to  you  my  first  and  most  vivid  impressions  of 
him,  and  so  it  has  served  a  purpose  after  all.  You 

must  bear  with  me  now  while  I  tell  you  of  our 

273 


274  UNCLE    BERNAC. 

expedition  to  the  Red  Mill  and  of  what  befell  in 
the  library  of  Grosbois. 

Two  days  had  passed  away  since  the  reception 
of  the  Empress  Josephine,  and  only  one  remained 
of  the  time  which  had  been  allowed  to  my  cousin 
Sibylle  in  which  she  might  save  her  lover,  and 
capture  the  terrible  Toussac.  For  my  own  part  I 
was  not  so  very  anxious  that  she  should  save  this 
craven  lover  of  hers,  whose  handsome  face  belied 
the  poor  spirit  within  him.  And  yet  this  lonely 
beautiful  woman,  with  the  strong  will  and  the 
loyal  heart,  had  touched  my  feelings,  and  I  felt  that 
I  would  help  her  to  anything — even  against  my 
own  better  judgment,  if  she  should  desire  it.  It 
was  then  with  a  mixture  of  feelings  that  late  in  the 
afternoon  I  saw  her  and  General  Savary  enter  the 
little  room  in  which  I  lodged  at  Boulogne.  One 
glance  at  her  flushed  cheeks  and  triumphant  eyes 
told  me  that  she  was  confident  in  her  own  suc- 
cess. 

"  I  told  you  that  I  would  find  him,  Cousin 
Louis! "  she  cried;  "  I  have  come  straight  to  you, 
because  you  said  that  you  would  help  in  the  tak- 
ing of  him." 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  GROSBOIS. 


275 


"Mademoiselle  insists  upon  it  that  I  should  not 
use  soldiers/'  said  Savary,  shrugging  his  shoulders. 

"  No,  no,  no,"  she  cried  with  vehemence.  "  It 
has  to  be  done  with  discretion,  and  at  the  sight  of 
a  soldier  he  would  fly  to  some  hiding  place,  where 
you  would  never  be  able  to  follow  him.  I  cannot 
afford  to  run  a  risk.  There  is  too  much  already 
at  stake." 

"  In  such  an  affair  three  men  are  as  useful  as 
thirty,"  said  Savary.  "  I  should  not  in  any  case 
have  employed  more.  You  say  that  you  have 
another  friend,  Lieutenant ?  " 

"  Lieutenant  Gerard  of  the  Hussars  of  Ber- 
cheny." 

"  Quite  so.  There  is  not  a  more  gallant  officer 
in  the  Grand  Army  than  Etienne  Gerard.  The 
three  of  us,  Monsieur  de  Laval,  should  be  equal 
to  any  adventure." 

"  I  am  at  your  disposal." 

"  Tell  us  then,  mademoiselle,  where  Toussac 
is  hiding." 

"  He  is  hiding  at  the  Red  Mill." 

"  But  we  have  searched  it,  I  assure  you  that 
he  is  not  there." 


276  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"When  did  you  search  it?" 

"Two  days  ago." 

"  Then  he  has  come  there  since.  I  knew  that 
Jeanne  Portal  loved  him.  I  have  watched  her  for 
six  days.  Last  night  she  stole  down  to  the  Red 
Mill  with  a  basket  of  wine  and  fruit.  All  the 
morning  I  have  seen  her  eyes  sweeping  the  coun- 
try side,  and  I  have  read  the  terror  in  them  when- 
ever she  has  seen  the  twinkle  of  a  bayonet.  I  am 
as  sure  that  Toussac  is  in  the  mill  as  if  I  had  seen 
him  with  my  own  eyes." 

"  In  that  case  there  is  not  an  instant  to  be 
lost,"  cried  Savary.  "  If  he  knows  of  a  boat  upon 
the  coast  he  is  as  likely  as  not  to  slip  away  after 
dark  and  make  his  escape  for  England.  From 
the  Red  Mill  one  can  see  all  the  surrounding  coun- 
try, and  Mademoiselle  is  right  in  thinking  that  a 
large  body  of  soldiers  would  only  warn  him  to 
escape." 

"  What  do  you  propose  then?  "  I  asked. 

:t  That  you  meet  us  at  the  south  gate  of  the 
camp  in  an  hour's  time  dressed  as  you  are.  You 
might  be  any  gentleman  travelling  upon  the  high 
road.  I  shall  see  Gerard,  and  we  shall  adopt  some 


THE   LIBRARY  OF  GROSBOIS. 


277 


suitable  disguise.  Bring  your  pistols,  for  it  is  with 
the  most  desperate  man  in  France  we  have  to  do. 
We  shall  have  a  horse  at  your  disposal." 

The  setting  sun  lay  dull  and  red  upon  the 
western  horizon,  and  the  white  chalk  cliffs  of  the 
French  coast  had  all  flushed  into  pink  when  I 
found  myself  once  more  at  the  gate  of  the  Bou- 
logne Camp.  There  was  no  sign  of  my  compan- 
ions, but  a  tall  man,  dressed  in  a  blue  coat  with 
brass  buttons  like  a  small  country  farmer,  was 
tightening  the  girth  of  a  magnificent  black  horse, 
whilst  a  little  further  on  a  slim  young  ostler  was 
waiting  by  the  roadside,  holding  the  bridles  of  two 
others.  It  was  only  when  I  recognised  one  of  the 
pair  as  the  horse  which  I  had  ridden  on  my  first 
coming  to  camp  that  I  answered  the  smile  upon 
the  keen  handsome  face  of  the  ostler,  and  saw 
the  swarthy  features  of  Savary  under  the  broad- 
brimmed  hat  of  the  farmer. 

"  I  think  that  we  may  travel  without  fearing 
to  excite  suspicion,"  said  he.  "  Crook  that  straight 
back  of  yours  a  little,  Gerard!  And  now  we  shall 
push  upon  our  way,  or  we  may  find  that  we  are  too 
late." 


2;8  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

My  life  has  had  its  share  of  adventures,  and 
yet  somehow,  this  ride  stands  out  above  the  others. 
There  over  the  waters  I  could  dimly  see  the  loom 
of  the  English  coast,  with  its  suggestions  of 
dreamy  villages,  humming  bees,  and  the  pealing  of 
Sunday  bells.  I  thought  of  the  long,  white  High 
Street  of  Ashford,  with  its  red  brick  houses,  and 
the  inn  with  the  great  swinging  sign.  All  my  life 
had  been  spent  in  these  peaceful  surroundings, 
and  now,  here  I  was  with  a  spirited  horse  between 
my  knees,  two  pistols  peeping  out  of  my  holsters, 
and  a  commission  upon  which  my  whole  future 
might  depend,  to  arrest  the  most  redoubtable  con- 
spirator in  France.  No  wonder  that,  looking  back- 
over  many  dangers  and  many  vicissitudes,  it  is 
still  that  evening  ride  over  the  short  crisp  turf  of 
the  downs  which  stands  out  most  clearly  in  my 
memory.  One  becomes  blase  to  adventure,  as  one 
becomes  blase  to  all  else  which  the  world  can  give, 
save  only  the  simple  joys  of  home,  and  to  taste  the 
full  relish  of  such  an  expedition  one  must  approach 
it  with  the  hot  blood  of  youth  still  throbbing  in 
one's  veins. 

Our  route,  when  we  had  left  the  uplands  of 


THE   LIBRARY  OF   GROSBOIS. 


279 


Boulogne  behind  us,  lay  along  the  skirts  of  that 
desolate  marsh  in  which  I  had  wandered,  and  so 
inland,  through  plains  of  fern  and  bramble,  until 
the  familiar  black  keep  of  the  Castle  of  Grosbois 
rose  upon  the  left.  Then,  under  the  guidance  of 
Savary,  we  struck  to  the  right  down  a  sunken 
road,  and  so  over  the  shoulder  of  a  hill  until,  on  a 
further  slope  beyond,  we  saw  the  old  windmill 
black  against  the  evening  sky.  Its  upper  window 
burned  red  like  a  spot  of  blood  in  the  last  rays  of 
the  setting  sun.  Close  by  the  door  stood  a  cart 
full  of  grain  sacks,  with  the  shafts  pointing  down- 
wards and  the  horse  grazing  at  some  distance. 
As  we  gazed,  a  woman  appeared  upon  the  downs 
and  stared  round,  with  her  hand  over  her  eyes. 

"See  that!"  said  Savary  eagerly.  "He  is 
there  sure  enough,  or  why  should  they  be  on  their 
guard?  Let  us  take  this  road  which  winds  round 
the  hill,  and  they  will  not  see  us  until  we  are  at 
the  very  door." 

"  Should  we  not  gallop  forward?  "  I  suggested. 

"  The  ground  is  too  cut  up.  The  longer  way 
is  the  safer.  As  long  as  we  are  upon  the  road  they 
cannot  tell  us  from  any  other  travellers." 


28O  UNCLE    BERNAC. 

We  walked  our  horses  along  the  path,  there- 
fore, with  as  unconcerned  an  air  as  we  could  as- 
sume; but  a  sharp  exclamation  made  us  glance 
suddenly  round,  and  there  was  the  woman  stand- 
ing on  a  hillock  by  the  roadside  and  gazing  down 
at  us  with  a  face  that  was  rigid  with  suspicion. 
The  sight  of  the  military  bearing  of  my  compan- 
ions changed  all  her  fears  into  certainties.  In  an 
instant  she  had  whipped  the  shawl  from  her  shoul- 
ders, and  was  waving  it  frantically  over  her  head. 
With  a  hearty  curse  Savary  spurred  his  horse  up 
the  bank  and  galloped  straight  for  the  mill,  with 
Gerard  and  myself  at  his  heels. 

It  was  only  just  in  time.  We  were  still  a  hun- 
dred paces  from  the  door  when  a  man  sprang  out 
from  it,  and  gazed  about  him,  his  head  whisking 
this  way  and  that.  There  could  be  no  mistaking 
the  huge  bristling  beard,  the  broad  chest,  and  the 
rounded  shoulders  of  Toussac.  A  glance  showed 
him  that  we  would  ride  him  down  before  he  could 
get  away,  and  he  sprang  back  into  the  mill,  closing 
the  heavy  door  with  a  clang  behind  him. 

"The  window,  Gerard,  the  window!"  cried 
Savary. 


THE   LIBRARY  OF  GROSBOIS.  28l 

,  There  was  a  small,  square  window  opening  into 
the  basement  room  of  the  mill.  The  young  hus- 
sar disengaged  himself  from  the  saddle  and  flew 
through  it  as  the  clown  goes  through  the  hoops 
at  Franconi's.  An  instant  later  he  had  opened 
the  door  for  us,  with  the  blood  streaming  from  his 
face  and  hands. 

"  He  has  fled  up  the  stairs,"  said  he. 
"  Then  we  need  be  in  no  hurry,  since  he  cannot 
pass  us,"  said  Savary,  as  we  sprang  from  our 
horses.  "  You  have  carried  his  first  line  of  en- 
trenchments most  gallantly,  Lieutenant  Gerard. 
I  hope  you  are  not  hurt?  " 

"  A  few  scratches,  General,  nothing  more." 
"  Get  your  pistols,  then.  Where  is  the  miller?  " 
"  Here  I  am,"  said  a  squat,  rough  little  fellow, 
appearing  in  the  open  doorway.  "  What  do  you 
mean,  you  brigands,  by  entering  my  mill  in  this 
fashion?  I  am  sitting  reading  my  paper  and  smok- 
ing my  pipe  of  coltsfoot,  as  my  custom  is  about 
this  time  of  the  evening,  and  suddenly,  without 
a  word,  a  man  comes  flying  through  my  window, 
covers  me  with  glass,  and  opens  my  door  to  his 
friends  outside.  I've  had  trouble  enough  with 


2g2  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

my  one  lodger  all  day  without  three  more  of  you 
turning  up." 

"  You  have  the  conspirator  Toussac  in  your 
house." 

"  Toussac!  "  cried  the  miller.  "  Nothing  of  the 
kind.  His  name  is  Maurice,  and  he  is  a  merchant 
in  silks." 

"  He  is  the  man  we  want.  We  come  in  the 
Emperor's  name." 

The  miller's  jaw  dropped  as  he  listened. 

"  I  don't  know  who  he  is,  but  he  offered  a  good 
price  for  a  bed  and  I  asked  no  more  questions. 
In  these  days  one  cannot  expect  a  certificate  of 
character  from  every  lodger.  But,  of  course,  if  it 
is  a  matter  of  State,  why,  it  is  not  for  me  to  inter- 
fere. But,  to  do  him  justice,  he  was  a  quiet  gen- 
tleman enough  until  he  had  that  letter  just  now." 

"  What  letter?  Be  careful  what  you  say,  you 
rascal,  for  your  own  head  may  find  its  way  into 
the  sawdust  basket." 

"  It  was  a  woman  who  brought  it.  I  can  only 
tell  you  what  I  know.  He  has  been  talking  like  a 
madman  ever  since.  It  made  my  blood  run  cold  to 
hear  him.  There's  someone  whom  he  swears  he 


THE  LIBRARY  OF   GROSBOIS.  283 

will  murder.  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  see  the  last 
of  him." 

"  Now,  gentlemen,"  said  Savary,  drawing  his 
sword,  "  we  may  leave  our  horses  here.  There  is 
no  window  for  forty  feet,  so  he  cannot  escape  from 
us.  If  you  will  see  that  your  pistols  are  primed, 
we  shall  soon  bring  the  fellow  to  terms." 

The  stair  was  a  narrow  winding  one  made  of 
wood,  which  led  to  a  small  loft  lighted  from  a  slit 
in  the  wall. 

Some  remains  of  wood  and  a  litter  of  straw 
showed  that  this  was  where  Toussac  had  spent  his 
day.  There  was,  however,  no  sign  of  him  now,  and 
it  was  evident  that  he  had  ascended  the  next  flight 
of  steps.  We  climbed  them,  only  to  find  our  way 
barred  by  a  heavy  door. 

"  Surrender,  Toussac!"  cried  Savary.  "It  is 
useless  to  attempt  to  escape  us." 

A  hoarse  laugh  sounded  from  behind  the  door. 

"  I  am  not  a  man  who  surrenders.  But  I  will 
make  a  bargain  with  you.  I  have  a  small  matter 
of  business  to  do  to-night.  If  you  will  leave  me 
alone,  I  will  give  you  my  solemn  pledge  to  surren- 
der at  the  camp  to-morrow.  I  have  a  little  debt 


284  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

that  I  wish  to  pay.  It  is  only  to-day  that  I  under- 
stood to  whom  I  owed  it." 

"  What  you  ask  is  impossible." 

"  It  would  save  you  a  great  deal  of  trouble." 

"  We  cannot  grant  such  a  request.  You  must 
surrender." 

"  You'll  have  some  work  first." 

"  Come,  come,  you  cannot  escape  us.  Put 
your  shoulders  against  the  door!  Now,  all  to- 
gether? " 

There  was  the  hot  flash  of  a  pistol  from  the 
keyhole,  and  a  bullet  smacked  against  the  wall 
between  us.  We  hurled  ourselves  against  the  door. 
It  was  massive,  but  rotten  with  age.  With  a  splin- 
tering and  rending  it  gave  way  before  us.  We 
rushed  in,  weapons  in  hand,  to  find  ourselves  in  an 
empty  room. 

"Where  the  devil  has  he  got  to?"  cried  Sa- 
vary,  glaring  round  him.  "  This  is  the  top  room 
of  all.  There  is  nothing  above  it." 

It  was  a  square  empty  space  with  a  few  corn- 
bags  littered  about.  At  the  further  side  was  an 
open  window,  and  beside  it  lay  a  pistol,  still  smok- 
ing from  the  discharge.  We  all  rushed  across, 


We  rushed  in,  weapons  in  hand. 


THE   LIBRARY  OF   GROSBOIS.  285 

and,  as  we  craned  our  heads  over,  a  simultaneous 
cry  of  astonishment  escaped  from  us. 

The  distance  to  the  ground  was  so  great  that 
no  one  could  have  survived  the  fall,  but  Toussac 
had  taken  advantage  of  the  presence  of  that  cart 
full  of  grain-sacks,  which  I  have  described  as  hav- 
ing lain  close  to  the  mill.  This  had  both  shortened 
the  distance  and  given  him  an  excellent  means  of 
breaking  the  fall.  Even  so,  however,  the  shock 
had  been  tremendous,  and  as  we  looked  out  he 
was  lying  panting  heavily  upon  the  top  of  the 
bags.  Hearing  our  cry,  however,  he  looked  up, 
shook  his  fist  defiantly,  and  rolling  from  the  cart, 
he  sprang  on  to  the  back  of  Savary's  black  horse, 
and  galloped  off  across  the  downs,  his  great  beard 
flying  in  the  wind,  untouched  by  the  pistol  bullets 
with  which  we  tried  to  bring  him  down. 

How  we  flew  down  those  creaking  wooden 
stairs  and  out  through  the  open  door  of  the  mill! 
Quick  as  we  were,  he  had  a  good  start,  and  by  the 
time  Gerard  and  I  were  in  the  saddle  he  had  be- 
come a  tiny  man  upon  a  small  horse  galloping 
up  the  green  slope  of  the  opposite  hill.  The 
shades  of  evening,  too,  were  drawing  in,  and  upon 


286  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

his  left  was  the  huge  salt-marsh,  where  we  should 
have  found  it  difficult  to  follow  him.  The  chances 
were  certainly  in  his  favour.  And  yet  he  never 
swerved  from  his  course,  but  kept  straight  on 
across  the  downs  on  a  line  which  took  him  farther 
and  farther  from  the  sea.  Every  instant  we  feared 
to  see  him  dart  away  in  the  morass,  but  still  he 
held  his  horse's  head  against  the  hill-side.  What 
could  he  be  making  for?  He  never  pulled  rein  and 
never  glanced  round,  but  flew  onwards,  like  a  man 
with  a  definite  goal  in  view. 

Lieutenant  Gerard  and  I  were  lighter  men,  and 
our  mounts  were  as  good  as  his,  so  that  it  was  not 
long  before  we  began  to  gain  upon  him.  If  we 
could  only  keep  him  in  sight  it  was  certain  that 
we  should  ride  him  down;  but  there  was  always 
the  danger  that  he  might  use  his  knowledge  of 
the  country  to  throw  us  off  his  track.  As  we  sank 
beneath  each  hill  my  heart  sank  also,  to  rise  again 
with  renewed  hope  as  we  caught  sight  of  him  once 
more  galloping  in  front  of  us. 

But  at  last  that  which  I  had  feared  befell  us. 
We  were  not  more  than  a  couple  of  hundred  paces 
behind  him  when  we  lost  all  trace  of  him.  He 


THE   LIBRARY  OF  GROSBOIS.  287 

had  vanished  behind  some  rolling  ground,  and 
we  could  see  nothing  of  him  when  we  reached  the 
summit. 

"  There  is  a  road  there  to  the  left,"  cried  Ge- 
rard, whose  Gascon  blood  was  aflame  with  excite- 
ment. "  On,  my  friend,  on,  let  us  keep  to  the 
left!" 

"Wait  a  moment!"  I  cried.  "There  is  a 
bridle-path  upon  the  right,  and  it  is  as  likely  that 
he  took  that." 

"  Then  do  you  take  one  and  I  the  other." 

"One  moment,  I  hear  the  sound  of  hoofs!" 

"Yes,  yes,  it  is  his  horse!" 

A  great  black  horse,  which  was  certainly  that 
of  General  Savary,  had  broken  out  suddenly 
through  a  dense  tangle  of  brambles  in  front  of  us. 
The  saddle  was  empty. 

"  He  has  found  some  hiding  place  here  amongst 
the  brambles,"  I  cried. 

Gerard  had  already  sprung  from  his  horse,  and 
was  leading  him  through  the  bushes.  I  followed 
his  example,  and  in  a  minute  or  two  we  made  our 
way  down  a  winding  path  into  a  deep  chalk 
quarry. 


288  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"  There  is  no  sign  of  him!  "  cried  Gerard.  "  He 
has  escaped  us." 

But  suddenly  I  had  understood  it  all.  His 
furious  rage  which  the  miller  had  described  to  us 
was  caused  no  doubt  by  his  learning  how  he  came 
to  be  betrayed  upon  the  night  of  his  arrival.  This 
sweetheart  of  his  had  in  some  way  discovered  it, 
and  had  let  him  know.  His  promise  to  deliver 
himself  up  to-morrow  was  in  order  to  give  him 
time  to  have  his  revenge  upon  my  uncle.  And 
now  with  one  idea  in  his  head  he  had  ridden  to  this 
chalk  quarry.  Of  course,  it  must  be  the  same 
chalk  quarry  into  which  the  underground  passage 
of  Grosbois  opened,  and  no  doubt  during  his  trea- 
sonable meetings  with  my  uncle  he  had  learned 
the  secret.  Twice  I  hit  upon  the  wrong  spot,  but 
at  the  third  trial  I  gained  the  face  of  the  cliff,  made 
my  way  between  it  and  the  bushes,  and  found  the 
narrow  opening,  which  was  hardly  visible  in  the 
gathering  darkness.  During  our  search  Savary 
had  overtaken  us  on  foot,  so  now,  leaving  our 
horses  in  the  chalk-pit,  my  two  companions  fol- 
lowed me  through  the  narrow  entrance  tunnel, 
and  on  into  the  larger  and  older  passage  beyond. 


THE   LIBRARY  OF  GROSBOIS. 


289 


We  had  no  lights,  and  it  was  as  black  as  pitch 
within,  so  I  stumbled  forward  as  best  I  might, 
feeling  my  way  by  keeping  one  hand  upon  the  side 
wall,  and  tripping  occasionally  over  the  stones 
which  were  scattered  along  the  path.  It  had 
seemed  no  very  great  distance  when  my  uncle  had 
led  the  way  with  the  light,  but  now,  what  with 
the  darkness,  and  what  with  the  uncertainty  and 
the  tension  of  our  feelings,  it  appeared  to  be  a  long 
journey,  and  Savary's  deep  voice  at  my  elbow 
growled  out  questions  as  to  how  many  more  miles 
we  were  to  travel  in  this  moleheap. 

"  Hush!  "  whispered  Gerard.  "  I  hear  someone 
in  front  of  us." 

We  stood  listening  in  breathless  silence.  Then 
far  away  through  the  darkness  I  heard  the  sound 
of  a  door  creaking  upon  its  hinges. 

"  On,  on!  "  cried  Savary  eagerly.  :<  The  rascal 
is  there,  sure  enough.  This  time  at  least  we  have 
got  him!" 

But  for  my  part  I  had  my  fears.  I  remembered 
that  my  uncle  had  opened  the  door  which  led  into 
the  castle  by  some  secret  catch.  This  sound  which 
we  had  heard  seemed  to  show  that  Toussac  had 


290  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

also  known  how  to  open  it.  But  suppose  that  he 
had  closed  it  behind  him.  I  remembered  its  size 
and  the  iron  clampings  which  bound  it  together. 
It  was  possible  that  even  at  the  last  moment  we 
might  find  ourselves  face  to  face  with  an  insuper- 
able obstacle.  On  and  on  we  hurried  in  the  dark, 
and  then  suddenly  I  could  have  raised  a  shout  of 
joy,  for  there  in  the  distance  was  a  grey  glimmer 
of  light,  only  visible  in  contrast  with  the  black 
darkness  which  lay  between.  The  door  was  open. 
In  his  mad  thirst  for  vengeance  Toussac  had  never 
given  a  thought  to  the  pursuers  at  his  heels. 

And  now  we  need  no  longer  grope.  It  was  a 
race  along  the  passage  and  up  the  winding  stair, 
through  the  second  door,  and  into  the  stone- 
flagged  corridor  of  the  Castle  of  Grosbois,  with 
the  oil-lamp  still  burning  at  the  end  of  it.  A 
frightful  cry — a  long-drawn  scream  of  terror  and 
of  pain — rang  through  it  as  we  entered. 

"  He  is  killing  him!  He  is  killing  him!  "  cried 
a  voice,  and  a  woman  servant  rushed  madly  out 
into  the  passage.  "  Help,  help;  he  is  killing  Mon- 
sieur Bernac!  " 

"  Where  is  he? "  shouted  Savary. 


THE   LIBRARY  OF   GROSBOIS. 


29I 


"  There!  The  library!  The  door  with  the 
green  curtain!  "  Again  that  horrible  cry  rang  out, 
dying  down  to  a  harsh  croaking.  It  ended  in  a 
loud,  sharp  snick,  as  when  one  cracks  one's  joint, 
but  many  times  louder.  I  knew  only  too  well 
what  that  dreadful  sound  portended.  We  rushed 
together  into  the  room,  but  the  hardened  Savary 
and  the  dare-devil  hussar  both  recoiled  in  horror 
from  the  sight  which  met  our  gaze. 

My  uncle  had  been  seated  writing  at  his  desk, 
with  his  back  to  the  door,  when  his  murderer  had 
entered.  No  doubt  it  was  at  the  first  glance  over 
his  shoulder  that  he  had  raised  the  scream  when 
he  saw  that  terrible  hairy  face  coming  in  upon 
him,  while  the  second  cry  may  have  been  when 
those  great  hands  clutched  at  his  head.  He  had 
never  risen  from  his  chair — perhaps  he  had  been 
too  paralysed  by  fear — and  he  still  sat  with  his 
back  to  the  door.  But  what  struck  the  colour 
from  our  cheeks  was  that  his  head  had  been  turned 
completely  round,  so  that  his  horribly  distorted 
purple  face  looked  squarely  at  us  from  between 
his  shoulders.  Often  in  my  dreams  that  thin  face, 
with  the  bulging  grey  eyes,  and  the  shockingly 


292  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

open  mouth,  comes  to  disturb  me.  Beside  him 
stood  Toussac,  his  face  flushed  with  triumph,  and 
his  great  arms  folded  across  his  chest. 

"  Well,  my  friends,"  said  he,  "  you  are  too 
late,  you  see.  I  have  paid  my  debts  after  all." 

"  Surrender!  "  cried  Savary. 

"  Shoot  away!  Shoot  away!  "  he  cried,  drum- 
ming his  hands  upon  his  breast.  "  You  don't 
suppose  I  fear  your  miserable  pellets,  do  you?  Oh, 
you  imagine  you  will  take  me  alive!  I'll  soon 
knock  that  idea  out  of  your  heads." 

In  an  instant  he  had  swung  a  heavy  chair  over 
his  head,  and  was  rushing  furiously  at  us.  We  all 
fired  our  pistols  into  him  together,  but  nothing 
could  stop  that  thunderbolt  of  a  man.  With  the 
blood  spurting  from  his  wounds,  he  lashed  madly 
out  with  his  chair,  but  his  eyesight  happily  failed 
him,  and  his  swashing  blow  came  down  upon  the 
corner  of  the  table  with  a  crash  which  broke  it 
into  fragments.  Then  with  a  mad  bellow  of  rage 
he  sprang  upon  Savary,  tore  him  down  to  the 
ground,  and  had  his  hand  upon  his  chin  before 
Gerard  and  I  could  seize  him  by  the  arms.  We 
were  three  strong  men,  but  he  was  as  strong  as  all 


THE   LIBRARY  OF  GROSBOIS. 


293 


of  us  put  together,  for  again  and  again  he  shook 
himself  free,  and  again  and  again  we  got  our  grip 
upon  him  once  more.  But  he  was  losing  blood 
fast.  Every  instant  his  huge  strength  ebbed  away. 
With  a  supreme  effort  he  staggered  to  his  feet, 
the  three  of  us  hanging  on  to  him  like  hounds  on 
to  a  bear.  Then  with  a  shout  of  rage  and  despair 
which  thundered  through  the  whole  castle,  his 
knees  gave  way  under  him,  and  he  fell  in  a  huge 
inert  heap  upon  the  floor,  his  black  beard  bristling 
up  towards  the  ceiling.  We  all  stood  panting 
round,  ready  to  spring  upon  him  if  he  should  move; 
but  it  was  over.  He  was  dead. 

Savary,  deadly  pale,  was  leaning  with  his  hand 
to  his  side  against  the  table.  It  was  not  for  noth- 
ing that  those  mighty  arms  had  been  thrown 
round  him. 

"  I  feel  as  if  I  had  been  hugged  by  a  bear,'* 
said  he.  "  Well,  there  is  one  dangerous  man  the 
less  in  France,  and  the  Emperor  has  lost  one  of  his 
enemies.  And  yet  he  was  a  brave  man  too! " 

"  What  a  soldier  he  would  have  made!"  said 
Gerard  thoughtfully.  "  What  a  quartermaster  for 
the  Hussars  of  Bercheny!  He  must  have  been  a 


294  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

very  foolish  person  to  set  his  will  against  that  of 
the  Emperor." 

I  had  seated  myself,  sick  and  dazed,  upon  the 
settee,  for  scenes  of  bloodshed  were  new  to  me 
then,  and  this  one  had  been  enough  to  shock  the 
most  hardened.  Savary  gave  us  all  a  little  cognac 
from  his  flask,  and  then  tearing  down  one  of  the 
curtains  he  laid  it  over  the  terrible  figure  of  my 
Uncle  Bernac. 

"  We  can  do  nothing  here/'  said  he.  "  I  must 
get  back  and  report  to  the  Emperor  as  soon  as 
possible.  But  all  these  papers  of  Bernac's  must 
be  seized,  for  many  of  them  bear  upon  this  and 
other  conspiracies."  As  he  spoke  he  gathered 
together  a  number  of  documents  which  were  scat- 
tered about  the  table — among  the  others  a  letter 
which  lay  before  him  upon  the  desk,  and  which 
he  had  apparently  just  finished  at  the  time  of 
Toussac's  irruption. 

"  Hullo,  what's  this?  "  said  Savary,  glancing 
over  it.  "  I  fancy  that  our  friend  Bernac  was  a 
dangerous  man  also.  '  My  dear  Catulle — I  beg 
of  you  to  send  me  by  the  very  first  mail  another 
phial  of  the  same  tasteless  essence  which  you  sent 


THE   LIBRARY   OF  GROSBOIS. 


295 


three  years  ago.  I  mean  the  almond  decoction 
which  leaves  no  traces.  I  have  particular  reasons 
for  wanting  it  in  the  course  of  next  week,  so  I  im- 
plore you  not  to  delay.  You  may  rely  upon  my 
interest  with  the  Emperor  whenever  you  have  oc- 
casion to  demand  it.' ' 

"  Addressed  to  a  chemist  in  Amiens/'  said 
Savary,  turning  over  the  letter.  "  A  poisoner 
then,  on  the  top  of  his  other  virtues.  I  wonder 
for  whom  this  essence  of  almonds  which  leaves 
no  trace  was  intended." 

"  I  wonder,"  said  I. 

After  all  he  was  my  uncle,  and  he  was  dead, 
so  why  should  I  say  further? 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE   END. 

GENERAL  SAVARY  rode  straight  to  Pont  des 
Briques  to  report  to  the  Emperor,  while  Gerard 
returned  with  me  to  my  lodgings  to  share  a  bottle 
of  wine.  I  had  expected  to  find  my  Cousin  Sibylle 
there,  but  to  my  surprise  there  was  no  sign  of  her, 
nor  had  she  left  any  word  to  tell  us  whither  she 
had  gone. 

It  was  just  after  daybreak  in  the  morning  when 
I  woke  to  find  an  equerry  of  the  Emperor  with 
his  hand  upon  my  shoulder. 

"  The  Emperor  desires  to  see  you,  Monsieur  de 
Laval,"  said  he. 

"  Where?  " 

"  At  the  Pont  des  Briques." 

I  knew  that  promptitude  was  the  first  requisite 
for  those  who  hoped  to  advance  themselves  in  his 

service.    In  ten  minutes  I  was  in  the  saddle,  and 

296 


THE   END.  297 

in  half  an  hour  I  was  at  the  chateau.  I  was  con- 
ducted upstairs  to  a  room  in  which  were  the  Em- 
peror and  Josephine,  she  reclining  upon  a  sofa  in 
a  charming  dressing-gown  of  pink  and  lace,  he 
striding  about  the  room  in  his  energetic  fashion, 
dressed  in  the  curious  costume  which  he  assumed 
before  his  official  hours  had  begun — a  white  sleep- 
ing suit,  red  Turkish  slippers,  and  a  white  ban- 
danna handkerchief  tied  round  his  head,  the  whole 
giving  him  the  appearance  of  a  West  Indian 
planter.  From  the  strong  smell  of  eau-de-Cologne 
I  judged  that  he  had  just  come  from  his  bath. 
He  was  in  the  best  of  humours,  and  she,  as  usual, 
reflected  him,  so  that  they  were  two  smiling  faces 
which  were  turned  upon  me  as  I  was  announced. 
It  was  hard  to  believe  that  it  was  this  man  with 
the  kindly  expression  and  the  genial  eye  who  had 
come  like  an  east  wind  into  the  reception-room 
the  other  night,  and  left  a  trail  of  wet  cheeks  and 
downcast  faces  wherever  he  had  passed. 

"  You  have  made  an  excellent  debut  as  aide- 
de-camp,"  said  he;  "  Savary  has  told  me  all  that 
has  occurred,  and  nothing  could  have  been  better 
arranged.  I  have  not  time  to  think  of  such  things 


298  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

myself,  but  my  wife  will  sleep  more  soundly  now 
that  she  knows  that  this  Toussac  is  out  of  the 
way." 

"  Yes,  yes,  he  was  a  terrible  man,"  cried  the 
Empress.  "  So  was  that  George  Cadoudal.  They 
were  both  terrible  men." 

"  I  have  my  star,  Josephine,"  said  Napoleon, 
patting  her  upon  the  head.  "  I  see  my  own  career 
lying  before  me  and  I  know  exactly  what  I  am 
destined  to  do.  Nothing  can  harm  me  until  my 
work  is  accomplished.  The  Arabs  are  believers  in 
Fate,  and  the  Arabs  are  in  the  right." 

"  Then  why  should  you  plan,  Napoleon,  if 
everything  is  to  be  decided  by  Fate." 

"  Because  it  is  fated  that  I  should  plan,  you 
little  stupid.  Don't  you  see  that  that  is  part  of 
Fate  also,  that  I  should  have  a  brain  which  is 
capable  of  planning.  I  am  always  building  behind 
a  scaffolding,  and  no  one  can  see  what  I  am  build- 
ing until  I  have  finished.  I  never  look  forward 
for  less  than  two  years,  and  I  have  been  busy  all 
morning,  Monsieur  de  Laval,  in  planning  out  the 
events  which  will  occur  in  the  autumn  and  winter 
of  1807.  By  the  way,  that  good-looking  cousin 


THE  END. 


299 


of  yours  appears  to  have  managed  this  affair  very 
cleverly.  She  is  a  very  fine  girl  to  be  wasted  upon 
such  a  creature  as  the  Lttcien  Lesage,  who  has 
been  screaming  for  mercy  for  a  week  past.  Do 
you  not  think  that  it  is  a  great  pity?  " 

I  acknowledged  that  I  did. 

"  It  is  always  so  with  women — ideologists, 
dreamers,  carried  away  by  whims  and  imaginings. 
They  are  like  the  Easterns,  who  cannot  conceive 
that  a  man  is  a  fine  soldier  unless  he  has  a  formi- 
dable presence.  I  could  not  get  the  Egyptians 
to  believe  that  I  was  a  greater  general  than  Kleber, 
because  he  had  the  body  of  a  porter  and  the  head 
of  a  hair-dresser.  So  it  is  with  this  poor  creature 
Lesage,  who  will  be  made  a  hero  by  women 
because  he  has  an  oval  face  and  the  eyes  of  a 
calf.  Do  you  imagine  that  if  she  were  to  see 
him  in  his  true  colours  it  would  turn  her  against 
him?  " 

"  I  am  convinced  of  it,  Sire.  From  the  little 
that  I  have  seen  of  my  cousin  I  am  sure  that  no 
one  could  have  a  greater  contempt  for  cowardice 
or  for  meanness/' 

"  You  speak  warmly,   sir.     You  are  not  by 


300  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

chance  just  a  little  touched  yourself  by  this  fair 
cousin  of  yours?  " 

"  Sire,  I  have  already  told  you " 

"  Ta,  ta,  ta,  but  she  is  across  the  water,  and 
many  things  have  happened  since  then." 

Constant  had  entered  the  room. 

"  He  has  been  admitted,  Sire." 

:<  Very  good.  We  shall  move  into  the  next 
room.  Josephine,  you  shall  come  too,  for  it  is 
your  business  rather  than  mine." 

The  room  into  which  we  passed  was  a  long, 
narrow  one.  There  were  two  windows  at  one  side, 
but  the  curtains  had  been  drawn  almost  across,  so 
that  the  light  was  not  very  good.  At  the  further 
door  was  Roustem  the  Mameluke,  and  beside  him, 
with  arms  folded  and  his  face  sunk  downwards  in 
an  attitude  of  shame  and  contrition,  there  was 
standing  the  very  man  of  whom  we  had  been 
talking.  He  looked  up  with  scared  eyes,  and 
started  with  fear  when  he  saw  the  Emperor  ap- 
proaching him.  Napoleon  stood  with  legs  apart 
and  his  hands  behind  his  back,  and  looked  at  him 
long  and  searchingly. 

"Well,  my  fine  fellow,"  said  he  at  last,  "you 


THE  END. 

have  burned  your  fingers,  and  I  do  not  fancy  that 
you  will  come  near  the  fire  again.  Or  do  you 
perhaps  think  of  continuing  with  politics  as  a  pro- 
fession? " 

"  If  your  Majesty  will  overlook  what  I  have 
done,"  Lesage  stammered,  "  I  shall  faithfully 
promise  you  that  I  will  be  your  most  loyal  servant 
until  the  day  of  my  death." 

"  Hum!  "  said  the  Emperor,  spilling  a  pinch  of 
snuff  over  the  front  of  his  white  jacket.  "  There 
is  some  sense  in  what  you  say,  for  no  one  makes 
so  good  a  servant  as  the  man  who  has  had  a  thor- 
ough fright.  But  I  am  a  very  exacting  master." 

"  I  do  not  care  what  you  require  of  me.  Every- 
thing will  be  welcome,  if  you  will  only  give  me 
your  forgiveness." 

"  For  example,"  said  the  Emperor.  "  It  is  one 
of  my  whims  that  when  a  man  enters  my  service 
I  shall  marry  him  to  whom  I  like.  Do  you  agree 
to  that?" 

There  was  a  struggle  upon  the  poet's  face,  and 
he  clasped  and  unclasped  his  hands. 

"  May  I  ask,  Sire ?  " 

"  You  may  ask  nothing." 


302  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

"  But  there  are  circumstances,  Sire " 

"  There,  there,  that  is  enough!  "  cried  the  Em- 
peror harshly,  turning  upon  his  heel.  "  I  do  not 
argue,  I  order.  There  is  a  young  lady,  Mademoi- 
selle de  Bergerot,  for  whom  I  desire  a  husband. 
Will  you  marry  her,  or  will  you  return  to  prison?  " 

Again  there  was  the  struggle  in  the  man's  face, 
and  he  was  silent,  twitching  and  writhing  in  his 
indecision. 

"  It  is  enough!  "  cried  the  Emperor.  "  Rou- 
stem,  call  the  guard!  " 

"  No,  no,  Sire,  do  not  send  me  back  to  prison/' 

"The  guard,  Roustem!  " 

"  I  will  do  it,  Sire!  I  will  do  it!  I  will  marry 
whomever  you  please!  " 

"  You  villain ! "  cried  a  voice,  and  there  was 
Sibylle  standing  in  the  opening  of  the  curtains  at 
one  of  the  windows.  Her  face  was  pale  with  anger 
and  her  eyes  shining  with  scorn;  the  parting  cur- 
tains framed  her  tall,  slim  figure,  which  leaned 
forwards  in  her  fury  of  passion.  She  had  forgotten 
the  Emperor,  the  Empress,  everything,  in  her  re- 
vulsion of  feeling  against  this  craven  whom  she 
had  loved, 


THE   END.  303 

"  They  told  me  what  you  were,'*  she  cried.  "  I 
would  not  believe  them,  I  could  not  believe  them — 
for  I  did  not  know  that  there  was  upon  this  earth 
a  thing  so  contemptible.  They  said  that  they 
would  prove  it,  and  I  defied  them  to  do  so,  and 
now  I  see  you  as  you  are.  Thank  God  that  I  have 
found  you  out  in  time!  And  to  think  that  for 
your  sake  I  have  brought  about  the  death  of  a  man 
who  was  worth  a  hundred  of  you!  Oh,  I  am  right- 
ly punished  for  an  unwomanly  act.  Toussac  has 
had  his  revenge." 

"  Enough!  "  said  the  Emperor  sternly.  "  Con- 
stant, lead  Mademoiselle  Bernac  into  the  next 
room.  As  to  you,  sir,  I  do  not  think  that  I  can 
condemn  any  lady  of  my  Court  to  take  such  a  man 
as  a  husband.  Suffice  it  that  you  have  been  shown 
in  your  true  colours,  and  that  Mademoiselle  Bernac 
has  been  cured  of  a  foolish  infatuation.  Roustem, 
remove  the  prisoner! " 

"There,  Monsieur  de  Laval,"  said  the  Em- 
peror, when  the  wretched  Lesage  had  been  con- 
ducted from  the  room.  "  We  have  not  done  such 
a  bad  piece  of  work  between  the  coffee  and  the 
breakfast.  It  was  your  idea,  Josephine,  and  I  give 


304  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

you  credit  for  it.  But  now,  de  Laval,  I  feel  that 
we  owe  you  some  recompense  for  having  set  the 
young  aristocrats  a  good  example,  and  for  hav- 
ing had  a  share  in  this  Toussac  business.  You 
have  certainly  acted  very  well." 

"  I  ask  no  recompense,  Sire,"  said  I,  with  an 
uneasy  sense  of  what  was  coming. 

"  It  is  your  modesty  that  speaks.  But  I  have 
already  decided  upon  your  reward.  You  shall 
have  such  an  allowance  as  will  permit  you  to  keep 
up  a  proper  appearance  as  my  aide-de-camp,  and 
I  have  determined  to  marry  you  suitably  to  one 
of  the  ladies-in-waiting  of  the  Empress." 

My  heart  turned  to  lead  within  me. 

"  But,  Sire,"  I  stammered,  "  this  is  impossi- 
ble." 

"  Oh,  you  have  no  occasion  to  hesitate.  The 
lady  is  of  excellent  family  and  she  is  not  want- 
ing in  personal  charm.  In  a  word  the  affair  is 
settled,  and  the  marriage  takes  place  upon  Thurs- 
day." 

"  But  it  is  impossible,  Sire,"  I  repeated. 

"  Impossible!  When  you  have  been  longer  in 
my  service,  sir,  you  will  understand  that  that  is  a 


THE  END.  305 

word  which  I  do  not  tolerate.  I  tell  you  that  it 
is  settled." 

"  My  love  is  given  to  another,  Sire.  It  is  not 
possible  for  me  to  change." 

"  Indeed! "  said  the  Emperor  coldly.  "  If  you 
persist  in  such  a  resolution  you  cannot  expect  to 
retain  your  place  in  my  household." 

Here  was  the  whole  structure  which  my  am- 
bition had  planned  out  crumbling  hopelessly  about 
my  ears.  And  yet  what  was  there  for  me  to  do? 

"  It  is  the  bitterest  moment  of  my  life,  Sire," 
said  I,  "  and  yet  I  must  be  true  to  the  promise 
which  I  have  given.  If  I  have  to  be  a  beggar  by 
the  roadside,  I  shall  none  the  less  marry  Eugenie 
de  Choiseul  or  no  one." 

The  Empress  had  risen  and  had  approached 
the  window. 

"  Well,  at  least,  before  you  make  up  your  mind, 
Monsieur  de  Laval,"  said  she,  "  I  should  certainly 
take  a  look  at  this  lady-in-waiting  of  mine,  whom 
you  refuse  with  such  indignation." 

With  a  quick  rasping  of  rings  she  drew  back 
the  curtain  of  the  second  window.  A  woman  was 
standing  in  the  recess.  She  took  a  step  forward 


306  UNCLE  BERNAC. 

into  the  room,  and  then — and  then  with  a  cry  and 
a  spring  my  arms  were  round  her,  and  hers  round 
me,  and  I  was  standing  like  a  man  in  a  dream, 
looking  down  into  the  sweet  laughing  eyes  of  my 
Eugenie.  It  was  not  until  I  had  kissed  her  and 
kissed  her  again  upon  her  lips,  her  cheeks,  her 
hair,  that  I  could  persuade  myself  that  she  was 
indeed  really  there. 

"  Let  us  leave  them,"  said  the  voice  of  the 
Empress  behind  me.  "  Come,  Napoleon.  It  makes 
me  sad!  It  reminds  me  too  much  of  the  old  days 
in  the  Rue  Chautereine." 

So  there  is  an  end  of  my  little  romance,  for 
the  Emperor's  plans  were,  as  usual,  carried  out, 
and  we  were  married  upon  the  Thursday,  as  he 
had  said.  That  long  and  all-powerful  arm  had 
plucked  her  out  from  the  Kentish  town,  and  had 
brought  her  across  the  Channel,  in  order  to  make 
sure  of  my  allegiance,  and  to  strengthen  the  Court 
by  the  presence  of  a  de  Choiseul.  As  to  my  cousin 
Sibylle,  it  shall  be  written  some  day  how  she  mar- 
ried the  gallant  Lieutenant  Gerard  many  years 
afterwards,  when  he  had  become  the  chief  of  a 


THE    END. 


307 


brigade,  and  one  of  the  most  noted  cavalry  leaders 
in  all  the  armies  of  France.  Some  day  also  I  may 
tell  how  I  came  back  into  my  rightful  inheritance 
of  Grosbois,  which  is  still  darkened  to  me  by  the 
thought  of  that  terrible  uncle  of  mine,  and  of  what 
happened  that  night  when  Toussac  stood  at  bay  in 
the  library.  But  enough  of  me  and  of  my  small 
fortunes.  You  have  already  heard  more  of  them, 
perhaps,  than  you  care  for. 

As  to  the  Emperor,  some  faint  shadow  of 
whom  I  have  tried  in  these  pages  to  raise  before 
you,  you  have  heard  from  history  how,  despairing 
of  gaining  command  of  the  Channel,  and  fearing 
to  attempt  an  invasion  which  might  be  cut  off 
from  behind,  he  abandoned  the  camp  of  Boulogne. 
You  have  heard  also  how,  with  this  very  army 
which  was  meant  for  England,  he  struck  down 
Austria  and  Russia  in  one  year,  and  Prussia  in  the 
next.  From  the  day  that  I  entered  his  service 
until  that  on  which  he  sailed  forth  over  the  Atlan- 
tic, never  to  return,  I  have  faithfully  shared  his 
fortunes,  rising  with  his  star  and  sinking  with  it 
also.  And  yet,  as  I  look  back  at  my  old  master, 
I  find  it  very  difficult  to  say  if  he  was  a  very  good 


308  UNCLE   BERNAC. 

man  or  a  very  bad  one.  I  only  know  that  he  was 
a  very  great  one,  and  that  the  things  in  which  he 
dealt  were  also  so  great  that  it  is  impossible  to 
judge  him  by  any  ordinary  standard.  Let  him  rest 
silently,  then,  in  his  great  red  tomb  at  the  In- 
valides,  for  the  workman's  work  is  done,  and  the 
mighty  hand  which  moulded  France  and  traced 
the  lines  of  modern  Europe  has  crumbled  into 
dust.  The  Fates  have  used  him,  and  the  Fates 
have  thrown  him  away,  but  still  it  lives,  the  mem- 
ory of  the  little  man  in  the  grey  coat,  and  still  it 
moves  the  thoughts  and  actions  of  men.  Some 
have  written  to  praise  and  some  to  blame,  but  for 
my  own  part  I  have  tried  to  do  neither  one  nor 
the  other,  but  only  to  tell  the  impression  which 
he  made  upon  me  in  those  far-off  days  when  the 
army  of  England  lay  at  Boulogne,  and  I  came  back 
once  more  to  my  Castle  of  Grosbois. 


(4) 


THE   END. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


•EC 


>:.•; 


,UG    51978 


PEG    231937 


MAR     5  1979 


6JuV56NB 


P.T241982/     / 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


